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AUTHOR: 


WEISE,  OSKAR 


TITLE: 


LANGUAGE  AND 
CHARACTER  OF  THE 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DA  TE : 


1909 


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877 


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W432 


Weise,  Oskar,  1851-1933. 

Language  and  character  of  the  Roman  people,  tr.  from 
tlie  German  of  Oscar  Weise,  with  additional  notes  and 
references  for  English  readers,  by  H.  A.  Strong  ...  and 
A.  Y.  Campbell  ...  London,  K.  Paul,  Trench,  Triibner  & 
CO.,  limited,  1909. 


'  CffI 


X.  259p.    22i' 

Copy  in  Classics,   1909 • 

1.  l^atin  lanj^age.  2.  L^tin  literature— Hist.  &  crit  3.  IJational  charac- 
teristics, Roman.  I.  Strong,  Herbert  Augustus,  tr.  ii.  Campbell,  Archi- 
bald Young,  joint  tr. 


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A 


LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE 

ROMAN  PEOPLE 


Language  and  Character 
of  the  Roman  People 


•  «  ■ 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF 

;  '  •.  .      '^ 

iOSCAR  WEISE 


<  •  •    •        • 
«     •  «  «  (    I •_ 


WITH  ADDITIONAL  NOTES  AND"  REFERENCES  FOR  ENGLISH  READERS 


>  *  *     < 


<     » 


BY 


H.  A.  STRONG,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF   LATIN,    LIVERPOOL    UNIVERSITY 

AND 

A.  Y.  CAMPBELL,  B.A. 

ASSISTANT  LECTURER  IN  CLASSICS,  LIVERPOOL  UNIVERSITY 


LONDON 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO.   LIMITED 
Drvden  House,  Gerrard  Street,  W, 

1909 


%  t 


* 


*     •      • 


CHISWICK   press:    CHARLES  WHITTINGHAM  AND  CO. 
TOOKS  COURT,   CHANCERY   LANE,   LONDON. 


FROM  THE  AUTHOR^S  PREFACE  TO 
THE  FIRST  EDITION 

THE  knowledge  of  any  language  must  neces- 
sarily remain  superficial,  unless  the  student  of 
the  language  in  question  has  a  clear  conception  of 
the  various  forms  which  make  up  its  construction. 
The  ordinary  grammars  give  us  little  light  on  this 
point.  School  text-books  regard  such  information 
as  beside  the  mark,  and,  unfortunately,  scientific 
works  are  content  with  a  few  scanty  precepts.  It  is, 
however,  to  be  regretted  that  our  methods  of  teach- 
ing language  should  alone  lag  in  the  wake  of  other 
studies,  and  refuse  to  follow  the  spirit  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  probing  and  noting  every  fact  and 
tracing  them  in  their  historical  development.  It 
passes  comprehension  why  teachers  cannot  dispense 
with  the  routine  methods  of  exercising  their  pupils' 
memory  at  the  expense  of  their  intelligence.  They 
might  surely  choose  some  way  of  stimulating  the 
thought  and  reflection  of  their  pupils.  This  small 
treatise  may  serve,  it  is  hoped,  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  this  end. 


f>  '1  n 

'In*" 


*r 


I 


FROM  THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND 

EDITION 

THE  Second  Edition  of  this  work  might,  strictly 
speaking,  be  called  the  third.  For  the  French 
work,  based  upon  my  own,  by  Ferdinand  Antoine, 
Professor  of  Classic  Philology  in  the  University  of 
Toulouse  (1896),  contains  a  large  number  of  im- 
provements and  additions,  which,  at  his  request,  I 
placed  at  his  service.  The  new  edition  differs  in 
many  respects  from  Antoine's  translation.  A  fifth 
chapter  has  been  added  on  the  Latinity  of  Cicero 
and  Caesar  respectively,  so  that,  after  passing  in 
review  the  style  of  Poetry  and  that  of  the  popular 
dialect,  I  might  do  justice  to  Classic  Prose  as  well: 
an  Index  has  been  added,  and  a  collection  has  been 
appended  of  researches  and  treatises  which  have 
appeared  during  the  last  few  years  in  German  lit- 
erature. 


VI 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION 

THE  Third  Edition  differs  from  the  second  by 
the  addition  of  a  chapter  on  the  Civilization 
and  Vocabulary  of  the  Romans:  it  contains  also  a 
large  number  of  additions  and  amplifications  most 
of  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  notes.  I  am  indebted 
to  M.  Graziatos,  Director  of  the  Gymnasium  at 
Argostoli  in  Cephallenia,  for  some  suggestions :  his 
translation  into  modern  Greek  appears  contempor- 
aneously with  this  edition. 

ElSENBERG,  S.A.,  1905. 


Vll 


PREFACE  BY  THE  TRANSLATORS 

IT  is  hoped  that  this  translation  of  the  suggestive 
work  of  Professor  Weise  may  prove  useful  to 
Classical  Students  in  Britain  and   America.    We 
have  endeavoured  to  render  it  so  by  adding  refer- 
ences to  English  works  on  the  subjects  dealt  with 
in  the  text  and  notes,  and  by  a  few  additions  and 
suggestions,   particularly   with  regard   to  the   ety- 
mology of  certain  words,  for  which  we  are  mainly 
indebted  to  the  full  and  scholarly  work  of  Professor 
Walde  of  Innsbruck.    The  notes  at  the  end  will 
be  found  to  contain  many  valuable  references  to  the 
literature  published  in  Germany  in  recent  treatises 
dealing  with  the  subject  matter  of  the  text.    To  the 
Bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  Appendix  should  be 
added  the  valuable  work  of  Mr.  Duff,  "  A  Literary 
History  of  Rome,"  Fisher  Unwin,  1909. 

H.  A.  Strong. 

A.  Y.  Campbell. 


VIU 


CONTENTS 

I.  The  Latin  Language  and  the  Roman 
Character  (§§  1-33)  .... 

The  Roman  character  interpreted  by  the  follow- 
ing traits  in  the  Latin  language: 

(i)  Word-formation;  wealth  of  vocabulary;  usage 
of  particular  words  (§§  3-8). 

(2)  Metaphors  (§§  9-1 1);   original  signification 

of  words  (§§  12-18);  proverbial  expres- 
sions (§  19);  "winged  words"  (§  20); 
puns  (§  21). 

(3)  Periods  and  style  (§§  22-29). 

(4)  Inflection  (§§  30  sqq.)  and  system  of  sounds 

(§  32);  summary  (§  33). 

n.  Style  and  Development  of  Culture 
(§§  34-59) 

( 1 )  The  oldest  Roman  literature  ( Appius  Claudius, 

Cato)  before  and  after  its  contact  with  Hel- 
lenic influence  (Plautus,  Terence,  Ennius, 
Pacuvius,  Accius,  M.  Antonius,  L.  Licinius, 
Crassus,  etc.  (§§  41-46). 

(2)  Prose  and  Poetry  at  the  end  of  the  Republic 

and  at  the  commencement  of  the  imperial 
rtgime  (§§  47-53)- 

(3)  Period  of  the  degeneration  of  style:  Renais- 

sance and  Rococo  (§§  54-59). 

ix 


PAGE 


33 


CONTENTS 


III.  The  Language  of  the  Poets  (§§  60-88) 

(i)  The  Law  of  Beauty  in  Poetry  (§§  60-66). 

(2)  The  claims  of  Perspicuity  (§§  67-76). 

(3)  The  Language  of  Poetry  and  its  truth  to 

Nature  (§§  77  ^??-)-  ^   . 

(4)  The  license  allowed  to  Poetry  as  contrasted 

with  that  allowed  to  Prose  (§§  79-8»)- 

J IV.  The  Language  of  the  People  (§§  89-1 1 1) 

(i)  Tendency  to  spare  trouble  (§§  89-98)- 

(2)  Tendency  to  clearness  of  meaning  (^S  99" 

(3)  Tendency  to  reflect  thought  and  character 

in  language  (§§  108-111). 

V.  The  Classical  Language  of  Caesar  and 
*  Cicero  (§§  112-130) 

(i)  Care  in  selection  of  words  (§§  112-118). 
2    Principles  of  these  writers  in  the  adoption  of 
inflexional  forms  (§§  119-120). 

(3)  Syntactical  peculiarities  (§§  121-124)- 

(4)  Stylistic  peculiarities  (§§  i25-i3o)- 

Appendix        ••••■' 
Roman  culture  as  mirrored  in  the  Latin  Voca- 

^  bulary. 

Notes    ..•••'* 
Index     .•••*** 


PAGE 

105 


144 


181 


211 


225 
255 


LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


THE  mental  activities  of  any  given  individual 
fall  roughly  into  two  categories — those  of  cog- 
nition and  those  of  emotion. 

The  proportions  in  which  these  psychical  elements 
are  mingled  are  responsible  for  the  great  differences 
in  the  mental  endowment  of  mankind:  in  some  in- 
dividuals  we   see    the   feelings    developed   at   the 
expense  of  the  intellect,  while  in  others  the  intellect 
preponderates  at  the  expense  of  the  feelings.     In 
some  cases  the  understanding  and  the  will,  in  other 
cases  the  emotions  and  the  heart  assert  their  pre- 
dominance.   And  as  it  is  with  the  individual,  so  it  is 
with  nations  as  a  whole.    Few,  indeed,  are  the  indi- 
viduals, and  few  the  nations  that  nature  has  evenly 
favoured  with  all  mental  endowments.    Amone  the 
nations   of  antiquity,   however,  the    Greeks   stand 
pre-eminent  in  respect  of  this  general  endowment, 
while  in  the  Romans,  reason  and  will  power  were 
unmistakably  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  other 
mental  faculties.    *'  The  taste  of  the  Romans,"  says 
Herder,  *' was  for  History, or  for  solemn  legal  oratory, 
in  a  word  for  Action:'    Thus  Sallust  says  (Cat.  8,  5)  : 

B 


2         LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

"Optimus  quisque  facere  quam  dicere  malebaC*  a^d 
Livy  puts  these  words  into  the  mouth  of  Mucus 
Scaevola:  "  Et  facere  et  pati  fortia  Romanum  est^ 
The  most  striking  traits  in   the   character  of  the 
Romans  were  their  stately  and  impressive  demean- 
our  their  unflinching  perseverance  and  constancy, 
their  firm  and  imperturbable  courage:    or   to  cite 
Cicero's  expressions,  their^r^z^/^see  note    at  end) 
continentia,  and  animi magnitudo  (Tusc.  i,  i,  2).    l  ne 
beau  ideal  of  a  genuine  Roman  of  the  old  stock  is 
summed  up  in  the  old-world  io.^n\^  vtrfortu  a  que 
siremms{C^toap.  Festum,p.  201,  A  Cell,  xvu,  13,  3) 
which,  at  a  later  period  in  the  time  of  the  Scip.os.  was 
under  Greek  influence  restated  (as  we  find  it  on  the 
tomb  of  Barbatus)  in  the  form  fortis  vir  sapiensque. 
The  valour  of  Roman  citizens  qualified  them  in  an 
eminent  degree  for  soldiers,  their  intelligence  and 
practical  understanding  made  them  statesmen  and 
lawyers,  their  calm  and  unruffled  common  sense  and 
their  clear  apprehension  fitted  them  for  oratory  of 
every  kind.   The  words  applied  by  Cato  the  elder  to 
the  Gauls.  "  Duas  potissimum  res  Gallia  sequitur.  rem 
militarem  et  argute  loqui  "O.  ho^  good  in  a  measure 
of  his  own  countrymen.  It  was  to  the  special  capacity 
of  her  sons  for  war  and  politics  that  Rome  owed  her 
rise  from  an  unimportant  state  to  a  world-power  of 
the  first  order. 

2  As  the  mental  endowments  of  the  Romans  were 
severely  practical,  and  such  as  inclined  them  to  take 
a  sober  view  of  the  circumstances  of  life,  we  cannot 
be  surprised  to  find  that  they  had  no  special  taste 


I 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  3 

for  either  Art  or  Science.  Their  imagination  could 
not  soar  to  the  height  of  either.  Vergil  confesses  as 
much  in  his  melancholy  reflexions  contained  in  the 
lines  (Aen.  vi,  847  sqq)\ 

Excudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  aera, 
Credo  equidem,  vivos  ducent  de  marmore  voltus, 
Orabunt  causas  melius  caelique  meatus 
Describent  radio  et  surgentia  sidera  dicent, 

and  Cicero   confesses    "  Doctrina   Graecia   nos  et 
omni  litterarum  genere  superavit:  (Tusc.  i,  i,  3),  nay, 
he  actually  goes  so  far  as  to  say  "  Nos,  qui  rudes 
harum  rerum  sumus"  (Verr.  ii,  87).    In  like  man- 
ner the  greatest  Roman  epic  poet  confesses  that  even 
as  a  she-bear  brings  forth  awkward  and  mis-shapen 
cubs,  which  she  has  to  lick  into  shape,  even  so  are 
the  offspring  of  his  brain  raw  and  imperfect,  and  he 
can  only  impart  to  them  the  features  they  should 
wear  by  long  and  toilsome  labour.    The  inhabitants 
of  Latium  care  to  occupy  themselves  with  such  pur- 
suits only  as  far  as  may  serve  some  practical  advan- 
tage, more  especially  the  good  of  the  state;  for,  from 
a  Roman  point  of  view,  as  Tacitus  says  (Dial.  5): 
"ad  utilitatem  vitae  omnia  consilia  factaque  diri- 
genda."   We  cannot  wonder  that  the  unremunerative 
arts  are  designated  by  the  significant  appellations 
studia  leviora  (Cic.   De    Or.   i,   49,    212,    De   Sen. 
14,  50),  studia   minora   (Cic.    Brut.    18,  70),  artes 
leviores  (Cic.    Brut,   i,   3),  or   artes   mediocres  (Cic. 
De  Or.  i,  2,  6),  and  that  it  was  only  by  a  slow 
process,  and  after  a  long  struggle,  that  under  the 
influence  of  the  Hellenic  spirit  they  were  enabled 
to  attain  a  higher  level  and  to  claim  more  respect. 


U 


I 


I       ', 


4        LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

What  is  more,  the  Romans  possessed  in  a  very 
moderate  degree  the  gift  of  sympathizing  with  the 
beauties  of  nature  and  penetrating  into  her  secrets. 
The  joy  of  wood  and  field,  of  rambles  on  wide  moor- 
lands, of  scaling  lofty  mountains,  of  all,  in  short, 
that  has  charms  for  chivalrous  races  like  the  Celts 
and  the  Greeks,  has  no  voice  for  them,  and  while 
the  Greeks  enliven  their  heaven  and  their  earth  with 
a  throng  of  gods  of  fair  form  and  dazzling  beauty, 
the  Romans  cannot  rise  above  the  idea  of  endowing 
certain  abstract  powers  of  nature  with  divine  attri- 
butes.  They  are  unable  to  create  myths,  or  to  people 
seas,  rivers,  mountains,  and  moorlands  with  the  fair 
figures  of  graceful  nymphs. 

3.  Now  let  us  consider  how  these  national  charac- 
teristics of  the  Romans  have  stamped  their  features  on 
the  Latin  language  {').    It  has  long  been  recognized 
that  the  vocabulary  of  Latin  is  poorer  than  that  of 
Greece  {%  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  a  large  portion 
of  this  vocabulary  had  to  be  recruited  from  foreign 
countries.    Now  when  a  nation  borrows  a  large  num- 
ber of  words  from  a  foreign  tongue,  it  proves  itself 
to  have  been  deeply  susceptible  to  the  influence  of 
the  nation  from  whom  it  borrows ;  it  proves,  more- 
over, that  the  borrowing  nation  possesses  a  less  active 
mental  activity  and  less  power  of  imagination.    It  is 
notorious  that  while  the  number  of  Greek  interlopers 
into  Latin  may  be  reckoned  by  the  thousand  {%  the 
Greek    language,    in    spite    of  the    mighty  tide   of 
Orientalism  which  flooded  all  Hellas,  can  point  to 
scarcely  a  few  hundred  words  of  Asiatic  origin.   The 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  5 

imaginative  disciples  of  the  Phoenicians  have  im- 
pressed the  stamp  of  the  Greek  spirit  on  most  of  the 
gains  for  which  they  are  indebted  to  their  Eastern 
neighbours.  They  have  suited  their  borrowings  to 
their  needs  and  have  renamed  them  in  their  own 
style.  Thus  we  could  hardly  guess  from  language 
that  the  potter's  wheel  (rpo^og  from  Tpix^i]/)y  that  frank- 
incense (6uo?  from  9  Jf  ii/)  and  thegourd  (ttettcov  from  Trea-a-siv) 
are  natives  of  Asia,  or  that  voayoe,  from  u?  (the  hyena), 
the  ichneumon  (from  Ix^usvsiv,  to  track,  i.e.,  crocodile's 
eggs),  and  ^pofxocg,  the  dromedary  (from  ^poc[As7y,  to 
run)  are  words  of  foreign  origin  (^). 

4.  The  Roman  methods  were  very  different.  With 
them  the  traces  of  such  creative  linguistic  activity 
are  small  indeed.  It  is  true  that  they  made  some 
efforts  in  this  direction ;  for  instance,  they  invented 
some  names  of  their  own  coinage  for  the  pomegran- 
ate (malum granatuin),  the  arbutus,  the  litter  (lecticd), 
letters  of  the  alphabet  {littera),  the  cloister  {porticus), 
the  amulet  {amuletum  from  amoliri,  a  translation  of 
(puAaxTiipioi',*  see,  too,  Weise's  essay  in  the  '*  Zeitschrift 
fiir  Volkerpsychologie  und  Sprachwissenschaft," 
xiii,  244).  But  they  never  advanced  very  far  in  this 
direction ;  indeed,  in  many  cases  they  actually  gave 
up  genuine  Latin  expressions  already  in  use  in  favour 
of  foreign  ones,  as  in  the  case  of  elephas  for  bos 
Luca,  and  the  chestnut  (nux  mollusca  or  calva),  etc. 
In  cases  where  the  origin  and  the  derivation  of  a 

*  More  probably  from  amoliri,  as  an  averter  of  evil;  and  if  so, 
a  genuine  Latin  word.  See  Walde,  "  Etymologisches  Worter- 
buch,"  s,tK 


6        LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Greek  word  were  obvious  to  their  apprehension,  they 
certainly  rose  to  the  height  of  translating  it,  more 
particularly  from  the  middle  of  the  first  century  B.C. 
There  are  many  departments  in  which  their  efforts 
in  this  sense  were  perfectly  successful  (^),  but  their 
proceeding  was,  as  a  rule,  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  Greek  expressions  for  art.     Can  we  therefore 
be  surprised  at  Cicero  thus  expressing  himself  (De 
Nat.  Deor.  i,  4,  8):  ^' Complures  enim  Graecis  in- 
stitutionibus  eruditi  ea,  quae  didicerant,  cum  civi- 
bus  suis  communicare  non  poterant,  quod  ilia,  quae 
a  Graecis  accepissent,  Latine  dici  posse  diffiderent," 
and  (De  Fin.  iii,  15,  51):  "  Quod  nobis  in  hac  inopi 
lingua  non  conceditur";  or  that  Seneca  (Ep.  6  i), 
thus  laments:  ''Quanta  nobis  verborum  paupertas, 
immo  egestas  sit,  nunquam  magis  quam  hodierno 
die  intellexi.     Mille  res   inciderunt,  cum  forte   de 
Platone  loqueremur,  quae  nomina  desiderarent  nee 
haberent,  quaedam  vero,   cum  habuissent,   fastidio 
nostro  perdidissent  '7 

5.  Another  cogent  reason  for  the  large  scale  on 
which  the  Romans  borrowed  foreign  words  is  to  be 
found  in  the  incapacity  of  their  own  tongue  for  the 
manufacture  of  compounds,  a  peculiarity  which  has 
descended  also  to  its  Romance  daughters  (').  The 
poet  Lucretius  (De  Rerum  Natura,  i,  830)  dwells 
on  this  fault  in  his  own  tongue  in  the  following 
words : 

Nunc  et  Anaxagorae  scrutemur  homoeomerian 
Quam  Graii  memorant  nee  nostra  dicere  lingua 
Concedit  nobis  patriae  sermonis  egestas, 
Sed  tamen  ipsam  rem  facile  est  exponere  verbis 


i 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  7 

and  Livy  makes  a  similar  remark  when  referring  to 
the  word  androgynus\  he  writes  in  terms  significant 
indeed, but  intended  to  spare  the  national  self-respect: 
**quos  androgynos  vulgus  ut  pleraque  faciliore  ad 
duplicanda  verba  Graeco  sermone  appellat."  Cicero 
expresses  himself  in  the  same  sense  (De  Fin.  iii, 
4,  15):  **Equidem  soleo  etiam  quod  uno  Graeci,  si 
aliter  non  possum,  idem  pluribus  verbis  exponere. 
Et  tamen  puto  concedi  nobis  oportere,  ut  Graeco 
verbo  utamur,  si  quando  minus  occurrat  Latinum, 
ne  hoc  ephippiis  et  acratophoris  potius  quam  proeg- 
menis  et  apoproegmenis  concedatur";  and  Gellius 
writes  in  the  same  spirit  (Noct.  Att.  xi,  16,  i)  when 
touching  on  the  topic  of  the  borrowing  and  transla- 
tion   of   Greek   words   like   TroAuTrpay/xoo-Ji/Ti,    7roAi;<ptA»a, 

woXvTpoTrloc:  *' Adjecimus  saepe  animum  ad  vocabula 
rerum  non  paucissima,  quae  neque  singulis  verbis,  ut 
a  Graecis,  neque  si  maxime  pluribus  eas  res  verbis 
dicamus,  tam  dilucide  tamque  apte  demonstrari 
Latina  oratione  possunt,  quam  Graeci  ea  dicunt 
privis  vocibus  " ;  and  further :  *'  in  me  igitur  infecun- 
dia,  qui  ne  pluribus  quidem  verbis  potuerim  obscur- 
issime  dicere,  quod  a  Graecis  perfectissime  uno  verbo 
et  planissime  dicitur."  As  we  may  gather  from  the 
passages  cited,  the  Romans  eked  out  their  resources 
by  simply  borrowing  words  from  the  Greek,  or  else 
they  preferred  to  employ  periphrases. 

6.  The  poverty  of  the  Roman  imagination  is  also 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  they  lack  native  expres- 
sions for  many  phenomena  of  the  material  world 
around  them.     Hence   Fronto   admitted,  on  some 


tlH, 


tt^.    'V 


8        LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

occasion  when  the  lack  of  Latin  words  to  express 
different  shades  of  colour  was  commented  on,  the 
superiority  of  the  Greek  language  in  this  respect  * 
(A.  Gell.  Noct.  Att.  ii,  27,  5),  and  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  in  Roman  literature  very  few  names  for 
mountains,  valleys,  springs,  and  moors  have  de- 
scended to  us,  a  fact  which  considerably  increases 
the  labour  of  the  geographer  of  ancient  Rome.  Of 
course  this  statement  must  not  be  taken  absolutely : 
some  localities  had  special  names,  as  the  spring  of 
Bandusia  and  the  mountain  of  Lucretilis:  but  the 
territory  of  Latium  cannot  pretend  to  vie  with  Greece 
in  this  respect.  Indeed,  Lucan's  remark  about  the 
Trojan  territory,  "  Nullum  sine  nomine  saxum,"  is 
more  or  less  true  of  all  Greek-speaking  regions,  but 
less  so  of  Latin  countries.  Again,  the  number  of 
genuine  Latin  terms  for  flowers  and  weeds  which 
adorn  our  meadows  and  woodlands  is  very  small: 
e.g.,  bellzs,  the  white  daisy,!  ^.nA  feniculum  (|ua>a9po^), 
fennel:  indeed  many  which  look  like  genuine  Latin 
words  are  merely  literal  translations  of  the  Greek, 
like  ranunculus,  from  (iocrpocx^ou. 

Again,  while  Greeks  and  Germans  alike,  to  aid 
their  designations  of  remarkable  products  of  nature, 
especiallyin  the  case  of  plants  and  trees,  borrow  the 

*  See  Geiger,  "Lectures  and  Dissertations"  (1880),  on  colour 
sense.  Both  Romans  and  Greeks  confounded  blue  and  violet, 
especially  with  gray  and  brown.  The  Romance  languages  found 
no  word  for  Mue  in  Latin,  and  were  obliged  to  borrow  one  from 
the  Germans;  cf.  fi/eu  and  old  Italian  h'avo,  from  Mm^,  which  itself 

originally  meant  /?/ack. 

t  Probably  connected  with  English  dale  in  bale-fire,  and  with 

Russian  ^/'^//>,  white. 


II 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  9 

names  of  the  most  striking  domestic  animals,  the 
Romans  lack  all  sense  for  such  comparisons.  They 
have  therefore  no  words  which  can  challeng-e  com- 

o 
parison  with  the  Greek  iTnroa-iXiuoi^,  Iwirovpig,  (^6vyXu(r(rogy 

or  with  the  English  horse  radish,  horse  chestnut,* 
or  the  German  Rosskastanie  or  Ochsenzunee,  etc. : 
for  words  like  Equisetum  (horse's  tail)  betray  at  once 
that  they  are  mere  importations  from  Greece. 

Further,  we  find  in  Greek  literature  many  more 
graceful  adjectives  which  testify  to  a  keen  observa- 
tion of  nature  on  the  part  of  those  who  used  them. 
In  Homer  all  is  light  and  colour:  epithets  such  as 
shining,  glittering,  radiant,  and  again  picturesque 
touches,  like  trailing-footed,  crumpled-horned  oxen 
meet  us  at  every  turn  and  become  to  our  fancy  an 
indispensable  accessory  to  the  Homeric  poems.  The 
Roman  imagination,  on  the  other  hand,  receives  such 
faint  impressions  from  nature  that  it  is  unable  to 
impart  them  in  any  high  degree  to  its  poetry. 

Latin  again  lays  in  many  cases  a  greater  stress  on  - 
number  and  magnitude,  where  we  commonly  empha- 
size the  quality  or  effect  of  a  substantive.  Thus  the 
word  fnagnus  is  combined  with  the  following  words : 
argumentum  (a  convincing  proof),  exemplum  (a  strik- 
ing example),  suspicio  (a  strong  suspicion),  p^^eces 
(fervent  prayers),  vox  (a  loud  voice),  hiems  (a  violent 
storm),  occasio  (a  lucky  chance),  coniunctio  (a  close 
alliance),  usus  (a  lively  intercourse),  officium  (a  sacred 
duty).  The  adjectives  which  we  attach  to  such  words 
are  less  vague  and  general,  and  denote  rather  some 

*  Cf.   mare's  tail;  also  such  words  as  ladies-fingers,  catkins, 
larkspur,  henbane,  cowslip,  oxHp,  etc. 


lo      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

quality  which,  as  it  were,  individualizes  the  substan- 
tive in  each  case.    Again,  how  poor  is  Latin  in  such 
words  as  the  particles  which  serve  to  express  differ- 
ent shades  of  our  mental  attitude,  and  to  bring  into 
bold  relief  the  object  of  our  thoughts!  We  have  only 
to  compare  such  Greek  words  as  av,  ap«,  r«,  ra,  h, 
etc.,  which  from  Homer  down  serve  to  enliven  and 
adorn  the  language  of  the  Greeks,  with  the  very 
meagre  resources  provided  by  Roman  literature,  and 
we  shall  find  that  the  Greek  language  is  far  more 
flexible,  and  far  more  capable  of  expressing  the  finer 
nuances  of  thought  than  its  Italian  sister. 

7.  We  find  greater  activity  in  the  process  of  word- 
creation  in  Latin  in  places  where  the  peculiar  Roman 
characteristics  most  assert  themselves.  C.  Abel,  in 
his  "  Sprachwissenschaftliche  Abhandlungen,"  p.  25, 
says  with  perfect  truth:  "  A  nation  which  possesses 
many  words  for  any  conception,  be  it  material  or 
spiritual,  must  be  much  concerned  in  the  object  of 
that  conception,  must  have  dwelt  on  it,  developed  it, 

and  refined  upon  it."  *  .        •  1. 

Examples  are  not  far  to  seek :  to  bear  pain  with 
patience  was  not  merely  a  trait  of  Stoicism,  but  an 
essentially  Roman  characteristic.  From  Mucius  Scae- 
'  vola,  who  thrust  his  right  hand  into  the  burning  fire 
before  the  eyes  of  the  Tuscan  King  Porsena,  Roman 
history  has  furnished  us  with  plenty  of  instances  of 
this  national  virtue.    The  Romans  accepted  bodily 

*  See  Heine,  Reisebilder:  Reise  von  Miinchen  nach  Genua. 
"  The  Arab  has  a  thousand  words  for  a  sword,  the  Frenchman  for 
love,  the  Englishman  for  hanging,  the  German  for  drmking. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


T  T 


pain  without  a  murmur  of  complaint :  the  most  that 
pain  could  wring  from  them  was  a  short  cry,  the 
reflex  of  their  agony.  Hence  it  comes  to  pass  that 
the  interjections  expressive  of  painful  feelings  are 
more  numerous  than  those  of  any  other  nature,  and 
they  bear  a  more  national  and  truly  Roman  stamp 
than  interjections  expressive  of  joy,  which  latter,  it 
may  be  remarked,  are  mostly  borrowed  from  Greece. 
To  the  distinctively  Roman  utterances  belong  Oy  keu, 
eheu,  pro,  vae,  ah,  hei,  ohe,  au :  while  among  those 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  we  may  mention  io,  euoe^ 
euax,  eu,  euge,  eia.  Again,  the  Roman  has  a  large 
number  of  expressions  for  slaves :  without  slaves  his 
life  was  impossible:  he  required  their  services  at 
every  turn  and  for  every  purpose :  thus  servus  is  to 
the  Roman  a  slave  looked  at  as  a  social  inferior: 
famulus,  as  one  of  xSx^familia  or  household  (Oscan 
fama,  a  house):  mancipium,  as  a  marketable  com- 
modity: verna,  as  born  in  the  household :  puer,  with 
reference  to  his  age:  minister  and  ancilla,  with 
reference  to  his  or  her  capacity  for  service.  But  it 
would  take  us  too  far  to  ransack  the  entire  vocabulary 
of  the  Latin  tongue  for  instances  of  this  kind:  two 
more  may  suffice.  We  are  purposely  setting  aside 
the  peculiar  department  of  knowledge  which  the 
Roman  from  the  earliest  times  proudly  proclaimed 
his  own,  that  of  Law  and  Politics,  or  Statecraft. 
The  terms  in  which  these  two  sciences  express  them- 
selves permeate  the  whole  Latin  language,  and  can- 
not here  be  referred  to  more  particularly.  But  it 
may  be  interesting  to  cite  in  favour  of  what  we  have 
advanced  a  few  facts  referring  to  the  words  which 


12   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

carry  the  signification  of  relationship,  and  to  articles 
of  food. 

8.  The  Romans  had  a  warmer  feeling  and  sym- 
pathy for  family  and  its  ties  than  the  Greeks.    The 
entire  contents  of  a  single  household  were  regarded 
as  a  single  large  unity,  ruled  by  the  paterfamilias, 
duly  organized,  and  each  member  knowing  accurately 
his  position  in  respect  to  the  rest;  in  fact,  the  family 
was  in  its  constitution  an  exact  counterpart  of  the 
Roman  State.    They  reverenced  and  venerated  their 
forefathers :  the  virtue  of  such  reverence  was  called 
pietas :  it  was  one  of  their  chief  delights  to  compose 
genealogical  trees,  and  they  loved  to  connect  the 
origin  of  their  own  gens  with  the  Fall  of  Troy  and 
the  arrival  of  Aeneas  in  Italy.    Thus  we  need  not 
be  surprised  to  find  that  they  had  a  rich  store  of 
names  expressive  of  family  relationships.   We  speak 
of  uncles  and  aunts;  the  Romans  mark  the  difference 
such  between  maternal  and  paternal  relatives ;  avun- 
culus ^nd patruus;  matertera  and  amita\  their  lineage 
extends  back  from  avus,  abavus,  proavus  to  iritavus: 
patruelis  denotes  the  brother's  child,  consobrinus  the 
child  of  the  sister.    They  actually  possess  a  word  to 
denote  the  relationship  of  two  women  married  to  two 
brothers :  ianitrices,^ 

The  favourite  animal  food  of  the  Romans  was 
pork.  Pliny  tells  us  that  they  knew  no  less  than  fifty 
different  ways  of  preparing  it  for  the  table  (Nat. 
Hist,  viii,  209;  cf.  Friedlander,  '*  Sittengeschichte,'* 
iii,  28).     The  very  term  caro  suilla,  a  diminutive 

*  So  glos  is  a  husband's  sister. 


I 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  13 

form,  shows  the  weakness  of  the  Romans  for  their 
national  dish.*  In  the  ancient  compound  suovetaur^ 
ilia  (  =  sus  +  ovis  +  taurus)  it  is  the  sow  that  takes 
precedence  of  the  sheep  and  the  ox.  It  is  therefore 
natural  to  expect  to  meet  in  Latin  with  more  terms 
to  express  "swine"  than  any  other  animal.  Besides 
sus  we  find  porcus.porca,  verres,  aper,  scrofa,  maialis, 
nefrens.  In  Roman  farces  the  swine  appears  as  a 
constant  object  of  diversion :  the  writer  of  Atellanes, 
Pomponius,  named  no  less  than  four  pieces  after  this 
animal :  Porcetra  (a  young  sow  which  has  once  far- 
rowed); Maialis  (a  fat  hog);  Verres  aegrotus  (the 
sick  boar) ;  and  Ve^-res  salvus  {the  boar  convalescent). 
We  may  regret  that  it  was  not  usual  in  Roman  times 
to  christen  the  chief  actors  in  the  national  farces 
with  the  name  of  one  of  the  national  tastes  or  fail- 
ings. In  that  case  he  would  probably  have  been 
called  some  name  like  Jack  Porker,  as  the  Germans 
call  their  chief  figure  in  their  farces  Hans  Wurst, 
the  French  Jean  Potage,  and  the  English  Jack 
Pudding.  Besides,  the  weakness  for  this  dish  gave 
rise  to  a  number  of  popular  proverbs.  The  German 
talks  of  roasted  pigeons  flying  into  his  mouth:  the 
Greek  makes  roasted  fieldfares  (oVra*  ydx^oci)  per- 
form the  same  kind  ofiice  :  the  Roman  people  uses 
coctiporci  in  a  similar  sense  (cf.  Petron.  45,  4). 

Indeed  Cato,  quoted  by  Cicero  (De  Sen.  15, 
56)  declares  that  peasants  call  their  gardens,  *'a 
second  flitch  of  bacon" ;  "jam  hortum  ipsum  agricolae 
succidiam  alteram  appellant."    To  act  harshly  and 

*  It  is  noteworthy  that  one  of  the  reasons  which  made  the  Jews 
unpopular  at  Rome  was  their  aversion  to  pork. 


\ 


.> 


,%«■ 


ki 


,4      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

without  reflection  is  expressed  by  the  proverb 
"  apros  immittere  liquidis  fontibus" ;  to  kill  two  birds 
with  one  stone,  ^*duos  apros  capere";  I  shoot  the 
game  and  another  eats  it,  *' ego  semper  apros 
occido,  sed  alter  semper  utitur  pulpamento."  All  of 
these  are  convincing  proofs  that  the  **  animal  propter 
convivia  natum "  was  the  delicacy  most  prized  by 

the  Roman  palate.* 

9.  Metaphors  are  one  of  the  main  factors  m  the 
development  of  language,  and  they  accurately  reflect 
the  spirit  of  the  nation  which  employs  them.  We 
may  therefore  expect  to  find  in  the  metaphorical 
expressions  of  the  Romans  a  faithful  mirror  of  their 
popular  beliefs  and  predilections.  It  is  only  natural 
that  when  the  speaker  casts  about  for  a  fit  com- 
parison, he  should  seize  on  the  subject  of  his  predilec- 
tion :  t  and  mankind  is  only  too  prone  to  extend  his 
own  circumstances  and  qualities  to  the  external 
world.    Hence  it  happens  that  in  the  similitudes  he 

*  Cf.  Cels.,  lib.  iii,  9,  "  Protinus  suillam  assam  et  vinum  homini 

dabant."  .  ••     o 

t  Mr  Keble  in  his  "  Praelectiones  Academicae,    OxoniL  i»44, 

p  ICO  describes  the  Homeric  metaphors  and  similes.  They  will 
be  found  to  show  that  Homer  was  a  keen  observer  of  nature 
II.  viii,  553;  iii.  ^o;  conversant  with  the  sea  iv  274;  with 
agricultural  occupations,  xxi,  343;  ^'h  45 M  xui,  701,  etc.  ine 
metaphors  in  Aeschylus  are  very  often  taken  from  the  customs 
of  animals  wild  and  tame.  Cf.  Agam.  11,  tdtd.,  35;  Eu^n.  i ; 
Suppl.  354,  ef  saepe.  Pindar's  are  mostly  taken  from  Public 
Games,  cf.  Isthm.  5,  i-  The  metaphors  in  Lucretius  indicate 
a  great  love  of  nature  (De  Rerum  Natura,  iv,  i).  The  English 
reader  may  consult  Minto^s  «  Manual  of  Prose  Literature,  p.  15 ; 
he  also  gives  the  sources  whence  the  greatest  English  writers  draw 
their  figures  of  speech. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


15 


employs  he  presents  us  with  a  view  of  his  intellectual 
impulses,  his  feelings,  his  emotions.  In  Lessing^s 
works  the  commonest  metaphors  are  those  taken 
from  combat,  and  this  harmonizes  with  the  writer's 
fondness  for  disputes  and  feuds.*  If  certain  meta- 
phors are  found  to  colour  a  language  not  merely  in 
special  periods,  but  in  all  its  stages;  when,  in  fact, 
they  are  the  common  property  of  all  the  writers  and 
speakers  in  that  language,  we  are  justified  in  con- 
cluding that  they  comprise  the  favourite  conceptions 
of  an  entire  people.  And  it  is  indeed  true  that 
agriculture  and  military  life,  the  two  main  columns 
on  which  the  Roman  state  rested,  are  called,  in 
Latin,  to  do  service  as  metaphors  with  surprising 
frequency. 

10.  When  we  find  a  nation  insisting  on  its 
members  being  addressed  in  their  civil  and  polit- 
ical capacity  as  ''  Quirites,''  i.e.,  "Spearmen"  or 
'*  warriors,"  and  investing  its  politically  emancipated 
citizens  and  its  armed  reserves  with  a  similar  name; 
when,  in  short,  we  find  military  service  and  military 
privileges  regarded  as  identical  with  civic  service 
and  civic  privileges,  we  cannot  be  surprised  to  find 
that  such  a  nation  scatters  military  metaphors  broad- 
cast through  its  literature.  It  has  been  well  said  by 
D.  Wollner  (*'  Landauer  Programm,"  1886),  *' When 
the  Romans  have  to  express  any  circumstance  in 
which  two  opposing  forces  meet,  they  immediately 

*  English  readers  will  remember  that  few  writers  can  be  said  to 
have  shown  their  complete  philosophy  by  their  choice  of  meta- 
phors so  much  as  Omar  Khayyam. 


Iff' 


i6       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

employ  some  metaphor  which  indicates  their  warlike 
propensity";  and  S.  von  Raumer  lays  stress  on  the 
fact  that  of  all  metaphors  those  which  have  reference 
to  war  are  the  commonest  (-  Die  Metapher  bei 
Lukrez/'  Erlangen,  1893,  P-  i^i).  Indeed  war  is 
the  very  life  and  soul  of  the  Roman.  1  hus  Uio 
Cassius  (xxxviii)  makes  Caesar  at  Vesontio  address 
his  soldiers  inclined  to  mutiny  from  terror  of  Ario- 
vistus  and  his  Germans,  "Oxav  oZ.  xiy^  tk,  or.  ou  xP»^ 

.oX./x.r.    .>..,   oJJe.    a'AAo    ^..1.   ^   or.    oJ  XP^   ttAout..,    ou 
vp.^   mpc.    ipx^^^.    oCk    IX^vUpov,,    oJ   'F^f^cclov,   a.a.  ;   and 

Livy  (xxii,  12,  4)  puts  these  words  mto  the  mouth 
of  Hannibal:  '*  Victos  tandem  illos  Martios  animos 
Romanis";  while  Cicero  (Tusc.  ii,  16,  37)  says: 
-Nam  scutum,  gladium,  galeam  in  onere  nostn 
milites  non  plus  numerant  quam  humeros,  lacertos, 
manus;  arma  enim  membra  militis  esse  dicunt" 

Expressions  like  s/>o/mre  are  of  ancient  date :  it 
signifies  strictly  to  strip  a  conquered  foe  of  his  arms : 
then,  generally,  to  despoil. 

Intervallum  means  strictly  the  open  space  within 
the  mound  or  breastwork  of  a  camp,  the  space  be- 
tween  two  palisades  {inter  vallos)  and  then  comes  to 
be  used  of  any  interval. 

Praemium  {prae  and  emere,  to  get  or  take  betore 
another)  means  in  the  first  place  profit  derived  from 
booty  (cf.  2\sopraeda)  and  then,  generally  speaking, 
reward  or  recompense.  . 

Princeps  originally  =  qui primuni  capit,  he  who  is 
the   first    to   seize    booty    (cf.   particeps  =  partem 
capiens) :  then  the  first  or  most  prominent  in  rank. 
Excellere  applies  in  the  first  instance  to  the  shoot- 


OF  THE  ROMAN   PEOPLE 


17 


ing  of  weapons  over  a  mark,  and  so  means  "  to  sur- 
pass "  generally. 

In  the  case  of  these  words  the  original  significa- 
tion has  almost  entirely  disappeared.  There  are  other 
words  used  in  a  tropical  sense,  in  which  the  metaphor 
is  more  apparent:  for  instance,  sub  hasta  vendere^ 
which  means  to  sell  at  auction,  but  which  refers  to 
the  custom  of  selling  captured  foes  beneath  the  spear 
(German  subhastiren).  Substantives  again  like  tiro 
[bonus  homo  semper  tiro  est),  tirocinium,  commilito, 
acies,  telum,  arx,  stipendium,  signifer,  militia,  bel- 
lum,  castra,  clipeus,  etc.,  are  frequently  employed 
metaphorically.  Fabius  was  nicknamed  5^^/^;;^;  Mar- 
cellus,  gladius  Romanorum :  the  discoverer  of  a  trick 
is  in  Plautus  often  called  ** General":  '*to  outwit" 
is  military  strategy  or  a  siege;  the  object  of  the 
trick  is  an  enemy's  town,  more  especially  Troy. 
Novius  says  to  a  wordy  poetaster,  '*  Ut  sol  crescit, 
cerea  castra  crebro  catapulta  impulit,"  and  Cicero 
calls  the  lex  Aelia  et  Fufia,  **propugnacula  tran- 
quillitatis."  Varro  begins  his  treatise  on  agriculture 
with  the  words,  "Annus  octogesimus  admonet  me, 
ut  sarcinas  colligam,  antequam  proficiscar  e  vita," 
and  in  Pliny  the  Elder  we  find  the  tropical  use  of 
such  words  as  excubare,  infestare,  rebellare,  occupare, 
quite  an  ordinary  occurrence  (J.  Miiller,  *'  Der  Stil 
des  alteren  Plinius,"  Innsbruck,  1883,  p.  119).  Ovid 
makes  the  morning  star  (Met.  ii,  115)  who  occu- 
pies the  last  rank  in  the  army  of  the  stars  ('*  qua- 
rum  agmina  claudit  Lucifer ")  leave,  last  of  the 
soldiers,  his  post  in  Heaven  (**  novissimus  caeli  sta- 
tione  exit").    Our  proverb,  "to  make  a  mountain 

c 


i8       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

out  of  a  mole-hill"  is  rendered  in  Latin  by  **arcem 
ex  cloaca  facere."  To  risk  much  for  nothing  is 
"hastis  trium  nummorum  causa  sub  falas  subire*'; 
to  burn  one's  boats,  "  abicere  hastam,  scutum";  to 
abscond  safely,  "  tecto  latere,  abscedere  " :  all  these 
are  proverbial  expressions  drawn  from  military 
life.* 

II.  Agriculture  and  cattle-breeding  are  as  fruitful 
a  field  for  metaphors  as  the  last.  The  inclination  of 
the  Latins  was  for  agriculture,  and  they  carry  its 
stamp.  Horace  calls  his  countrymen  (Carm.  iii,  6): 
'•  rusticorum  mascula  militum  proles,  Sabellis  docta 
ligonibus  versare  glebas."  **  Roman  life  depended 
wholly  on  agriculture,  and  maintained  its  moral  force 
as  long  as  this  branch  of  social  activity  existed  in  its 
simple  purity.'* 

The  pursuit  of  agriculture  remained  even  in  the 
period  of  refined  luxury  the  ideal  life  of  the  noblest 
and  most  honoured  Romans,  the  life  most  respected 
after  that  of  the  statesman  and  the  soldier,  so  that 
Horace  can  reckon  the  man  happy,  "  qui  procul  neg- 
otiis  Ut  prisca  gens  mortalium  Paterna  rura  bobus 
exercet  suis"  (Epod.  ii,  i  sqq.\  cf  Verg.  Georg. 
*'divini  gloria  ruris").  The  plough  was  used  to 
draw  the  furrow  round  the  enclave  of  a  town  about 
to  be  founded,  to  mark  the  circumference  of  the 
future  walls,  and  the  division  xnlo  gentes,  and  indeed 
the  constitution  itself  was  based  during  republican 
times  on  the  possession  of  land.     It  thus  happens 

*  Cf.  Macrob.  Sat.  ii,  8,  "  Congrediendum  igitur  et  tamquam 
in  acie  quadam  cum  vini  licentia  cominus  decernendum." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


19 


that  Latin  displays  a  large  store  of  expressions 
borrowed  from  agriculture  and  used  in  a  new 
sense. 

Delirare,  lit.  to  go  out  of  the  furrow :  then  to  act 
like  a  madman  (cf.  delirious). 

Tribtilare,  to  thrash  with  a  tribulum:  then  to 
plague. 

Praevaricari,  to  plough  in  crooked  lines:  then 
said  of  a  counsel  who  plays  into  the  hands  of  an 
opponent. 

Emolumentum,  what  is  ground  out  {e-molere):  then 
gain  or  profit. 

Calamitas,  a  plague,  destructive  to  crops,  such  as 
fire  or  hailstorm :  then  calamity  [the  derivation  from 
calamus  is  doubtful.    See  Walde,  s,v^. 

Adoria,  glory  in  war  [connected  by  popular  ety- 
mology with  ador^  spelt].* 

Rivalisy  a  rival,  connected  by  popular  etymology 
with  rivus  as  if  it  were  *'the  neighbour  on  the 
bank." 

AcervMS  [possibly]  from  acus,  aceris,  chaff. 

Saeculum  [probably]  "  sowing  season  "  (cf.  saison 
from  satid)  :  then  a  century  (cf.  Saeturnus,  Sa- 
turnus  from  the  root  of  severe), 

Cohors,  the  hedge  of  a  field  or  garden:  then  a 
cohort. 

Manipubts,  an  arm-filling  bundle. 

Inanis,  empty  [possibly]  from  acnay  a  measure  of 
land  (with  in  privativum), 

*  Copiae^  plenty,  is  specially  applied  to  troops  or  forces^  and 
copiae  marinae  is  used  for  the  fish  supply.  Cf.  Macrob.  Sat.  ii, 
X,  ad  init. 


20   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Felix,  originally  "fruit  bearing"  (cf.  fe-cundus, 
fetus,  fenus) :  then  "  happy."  * 

Who   would   think   of  connecting  pecunia   with 

pecus  [cf  fee],  egregius  with  grex,  septentrio  with  the 

three  oxen  for  treading   out   corn,  as   the   people 

called  the  seven  stars  in  the  constellation  of  the 

Bear? 

In  the  language  of  the  poets  we  find  in  common 
use  such  expressions  as  vada  carina  sulcare,  cerea 
prata  sulcare,  aeqiwr  arare,  librum  exarare,  proelia 
severe,  barbam  metere,  viam  carpere  \Jiorani  carpere\ 
polus  sidera  pascit,  uber  glebae,  mare  mugit,  etc. 
Then  we  find  proverbial  expressions  like  arare  bove 
et  asino  to  manage  awkwardly;  arare  litus  (to 
plough  the  sands);  adhuc  tua  messis  in  herba  est,  'tis 
too  soon  to  begin :  and  'Axpaya?  is  by  popular  ety- 
mology converted  into  Agri-gentum.  Similarly 
measures  of  space  like  jugerum  from  jugum,  actus 
from  agere  [in  quo  boves  aguntur,  cum  aratur,  cum 
impetu  justo,—?Xm.  i8,  59],  vorsus  from  vertere 
(the  turning  of  the  plough),  and  such  words  as  cam- 
pus, fios,  ager,  seges,  fructus,  trisulcus,  give  material 
for  many  metaphors:  eg,,  Cicero  calls  Clodius 
segetem  (field  or  soil)  ac  materiem  gloriae  Milonis. 

12.  The  signification  of  Latin  words  affords  us  a 
profound  appreciation  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
views  of  the  Romans;  indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
assert  that  in  no  other  way  are  they  so  faithfully 
mirrored.  Their  wishes,  their  sentiments,  their 
thoughts  and  their  poetry  all  stand  revealed  through 

♦  Clfructus,  ctiltura,  peculmm,  evincere,  protelare. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


21 


I 


this  medium.  Language,  as  we  know,  never  ex- 
presses any  notion  in  its  entirety.  A  curt  denom- 
ination cannot  possibly  denote  all  the  characteristics 
or  qualities  of  any  subject:*  but  only  the  most 
striking,  or  those  which  appear  so  to  the  speaker  or 
writer.  Lessing's  maxim  was  true  to  life  when  he 
stated  that  the  poet  should  not  bring  into  promin- 
ence more  than  a  single  feature  of  a  subject  at  one 
time.  "  The  etymological  meaning  of  a  word  never 
exhausts  the  full  meaning;  it  is  impossible  that  it 
should  do  so :  all  elements  of  language  are  merely 
representative  [and  not  full  pictures]  (Steinthal, 
"  Klassif."  281).  And  it  is  precisely  for  this  reason 
that  personal  views  and  personal  feelings  are  no 
small  factor  in  the  growth  and  spread  of  words.  It 
may  happen  that  one  people  may  hold  one  feature 
as  the  essential  characteristic  of  the  word :  another 
people  may  hold  another  feature  as  more  truly  so. 
Thus  it  is  that  etymology  enables  us  to  realize  every 
corner  of  the  intellectual  storehouse  of  any  given 
people.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  by  its  aid  we  are 
able  to  catch  merely  the  earliest  phase  of  the  mean- 
ing of  any  given  word;  we  can  only  state  with 
absolute  certainty  the  sense  attached  to  the  word 
by  those  who  coined  it,  and  what  they  considered 
the  principal  characteristic  of  the  object  denoted. 
But  if  we  study  the  semasiology,  the  development 
of  the  signification  of  any  given  word,  the  restric- 
tions and  expansions  of  its  meaning  caused  by  the 
feelings  and  impressions  which  have  attached  them- 
selves to  it  in  the  course  of  its  existence,  we  shall 

*  See  Whitney,  p.  409  sqq. 


22 


LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 


be  enlightened  as  to  many  psychological  processes 
in  the  human  mind,  and  shall  obtain  many  a  glimpse 
into  the  spirit  of  those  who  used  the  word  as  well  as 
of  those  who  coined  it.  The  essential  lesson  for  the 
Roman  student  [discipulus)  to  learn  {discere)  was 
discipline  {disciplina).^  This  word  corresponds  in 
form  to  the  Greek  juae»/xaTix>i,  but  how  far  apart 
have  the  words  drifted! 

The  father  of  a  Roman  family  rules  his  household 
with  autocratic  rigour:  and  just  as  the  father's 
authority  over  his  son  is  unquestioned  (as  it  is  in- 
deed over  his  son's  kin)  so  is  that  of  the  patromis 
over  the  cliens\  that  of  the  patricii  over  the  plebeii\ 
that  of  the /^/r^^  "elders"  over  other  citizens:  the 
idea  of  paternal  authority  is  felt  throughout.  The 
very  name  for  "  country  "  is  "  fatherland  "  {patria): 
that  for  mother-tongue,  patrius  sermo.  We  call  our 
language  the  "mother-tongue" — and  think  with 
more  sentiment  of  the  loving  care  with  which  she 
taught  us  to  lisp  our  first  sounds.  It  is  significant 
that  whereas  Homer  introduces  his  hero  Odysseus 
by  the  epithet  riQ<;,  Vergil  presents  us  his  ^neas 
with  the  title  oi pater, 

13.  Woman  is  in  the  Roman's  parlance,  mulier 
(probably  connected  with  mollis),  the  soft  creature 
who  needs  men's  protection :  he  calls  a  boy  puer,  but 
employs  the  diminutive  puella  for  a  girl :  so  ancuSy 
and  ancilla.    The  Germans,  according  to  Tacitus,  in 

*  Discipulus  is  derived  by  Walde  from  dis-capio,  I  receive  men 
and  teach,  its  opposite  being  praecipere,  to  undertake  something 
with  pupils. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


23 


the  remotest  times  regarded  the  woman  as  "  sanc- 
tum  aliquid  et  providum":    the  word  weib   [wife] 
denotes  something  inspired  [so  Kluge;  Skeat  says  it 
is  thought  to  come  from  a  root  signifying  to  tremble] : 
hence  the  awe  and  veneration  with  which  the  priest- 
esses were  regarded.    At  a  later  period  the  Germans 
exalt  their   woman   into   Frau   (O.H.G.,  frouwa, 
M.H.G.,  vrouwe),  i.e.,  house-mistress,  wife  of  the 
house-master:    this   word   is   connected   with    the 
Gothic  fratija,  Lord,  and  with  the  H.G.  Fro7t  (seen 
in   Frondienst,  Frohnleichnamsfest,  and  fr'dnen  [to 
labour  for  a  master]).    Comparing  the  mental  atti- 
tude of  Roman  and  German  toward  the  gentler  sex, 
we  find  that  in  Latin  the  wordfratres  denotes  brother 
and  sister,  and  sponsus  and  sponsa  are  used  for  two 
spouses.    The  Germans  use  the  terms  Geschwister 
and  Brautpaar  respectively,   denoting,  it  must  be 
admitted,  a  greater  feeling  of  reverence  towards  the 
ewig  weibliche.    On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  con- 
ceded that  language  seems  to  indicate  that  woman 
stood  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the  Roman  than  of 
the  Greek.    The  Greeks  say  r£>ci/a  xal  yuvatxe?,  the 
Romans   say,  conjuges  liberique^  when  they  would 
express    what    they    hold    dearest,    and    mulieres 
puerigue,  when  they  would  dwell  on  their  helpless- 
ness:   and  in  this  they  agree  with  our  method  of 
expression. 

Love  is  to  the  Roman  more  an  impulse  of  the 
intellect  than  of  the  heart.  Diligere  signifies  in  the 
first  instance  simply  to  discriminate.^    The  idea  of 

*  Or  it  may  be  from  the  same  root  as  dXcy^,  "to  trouble  one- 
self about."   See  Walde,  s.v. 


I 


iilij 


24      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

dutiful  affection  attending  on  certain  situations  con- 
ditioned by  relationships  or  other  outside  circum- 
stances is  genuinely  Roman :  caritas  denotes  affection 
for  one's  own  flesh  and  blood  or  for  a  friend  (cf. 
chariti) :  pietas  dutiful  respect  towards  the  gods  or 
parents,  and  to  the  mother  country  as  the  lasting 
benefactor  of  each  man :  studium  denotes  an  affec- 
tion based  on  political  or  personal  obligations,  and 
aiming  at  merely  worldly  ends.^  Here  we  have  the 
picture  of  the  Roman,  his  life  and  his  love:  he  took 
full  advantage  of  the  closest  natural  relations,  but 
he  respected  them  as  well,  and  he  utilized  them  for 
his  own  purpose,  while  regarding  them  with  honest 
goodwill.  He  turned  his  affections  to  the  quarter 
whence  came  his  needs,  and  he  held  it  his  sacred 
duty  to  requite  those  who  aided  him  (C.  Abel, 
"  Sprachwissenschaftliche  Abhandlungen,"  Leipzig, 
1885,  p.  88  sqq,\  Even  the  love  which  flows  from 
the  depths  of  his  heart,  the  love  which  the  Latins 
call  amor,  was  regarded  by  the  Roman  people  not 
from  its  spiritual  side:  amor  was  to  the  Roman  a 
malady,  a  consuming  fire,  a  fatal  wound.f  With  the 
exception  perhaps  of  Tibullus,  the  poets  seized  on 
the  strongest  possible  expressions,  which  indeed 
they  could  not  heighten,  to  express  the  power  of 
such  love  (cf.  Weidner  on  Verg.  Aen.  i,  660). 
How  different  is  the  Teutonic  conception!  Luther 
betrays  a  profound  knowledge  of  his  own  mother- 
tongue  when  he  says  in  a  letter  on  interpretation : 

*  Adfectus  is  the  nearest  Latin  word  for  an  emotional  love, 
t  This  is  most  noticeable  in  the  well-known  passage  of  Lucre- 
tius (De  Rerum  Natura,  iv),  the  most  Roman  of  poets. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


25 


*'  I  hardly  know  whether  it  be  possible  to  translate 
the  word  lieb,  dear,  into  Latin  or  any  other  language 
so  as  to  express  its  tenderness,  so  that  it  may  call 
such  a  responsive  echo  from  our  hearts  as  it  does  in 
German."  The  tenderness  of  love  in  the  case  of 
Teutonic  nations  depends  on  faith  and  mutual  con- 
fidence :  hence  it  is  that  such  words  as  the  German 
Glaube  {ge-loube)  and  Liebe,  and  in  Gothic  indeed 
the  word  lubains  (hope)  come  from  the  same  stem. 

The  Teutonic  conception  of  love  is  that  it  rests 
on  the  emotions :  and  our  emotional  nature,  irradiated 
and  warmed  by  the  quickening  sun  of  Christianity, 
is  a  flower  which  never  came  to  its  perfection  on 
Roman  soil.  Indeed  neither  Latin  nor  the  Romance 
languages  possess  any  expression  which  exactly 
renders  Gemiif :  and  the  derivatives  of  animus  point 
rather  to  a  source  of  wrath  and  passion  than  to  one 
of  what  the  Germans  call  Gemiitlichkeit  (a  term 
lacking  in  English  as  well). 

14.  Again,  the  conception  of  marriage  in  Latin  is 
based  on  no  deeper  insight  into  nature.  Betrothal 
(nuptiae)  is  simply  ''taking  the  veil ''  {nubere  alicui, 
to  veil  oneself  before  the  bridegroom) :  ^  or  again  it 
is  a  matrimonium  or  ''mothering,"  ix,,  an  arrange- 
ment for  the  continuation  of  the  race :  or  again  a 
common  sacrifice  of  a  cake  of  spelt  (confarreatio 
from  far).  In  the  eyes  of  the  German,  marriage  is 
a  lasting  contract,  a  legal  agreement  and  bond  be- 
tween husband  and  wife,  voidable  only  by  death 

*  Nubere  is  derived,  however,  by  Walde  from  a  root  snu,  signi- 
fying in  Slavonic  (O.  Bulgarian)  "  to  love." 


■I'l 


26      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

{ewig  and  Eke^  originally  Swa,  are  from  the  same 
stem  as  aevum  [cf.  to  wed,  from  A.S.  weddian,  to 
pledge]).  The  Teutonic  conception  of  marriage  is 
a  Hoch  Zeit,  a  sublime  and  glorious  day,  or  an 
event  depending  on  mutual  confidence;  a  betrothal. 
His  consort  stands  so  high  in  his  estimation  that  he 
regards  her  as  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privi- 
leges as  himself,  and  calls  her  in  fact  his  '*  Ehehalfte  " 
(cf.  our  "better-half").* 

The  Roman  regarded  school  not  as  a  place  for 
intellectual  exertion,  but  as  a  '*  sport "  {ludus).  Ac- 
cordingly we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  Latin 
takes  over  the  Greek  word  a-^oAn',  leisure,  and  em- 
ploys it  in  the  signification  of  school^  nor  that  it 
attaches  to  the  word  otium  the  connotation  of  intel- 
lectual occupation :  such  occupation  serves  as  a  re- 
freshing rest  after  effort.  It  is  significant,  too,  that 
Cicero  represents  most  of  his  dialogues  as  spoken 
in  the  holidays  (cf  De  Or.  ii,  13;  i,  102;  and 
Seyffert-Muller  on  "  Laelius,"  p.  93)  [and  Wilkins 
edit,  of  De  Or.,  p.  6].  Literary  activity  in  primitive 
times  hardly  goes  beyond  letter-writing:  litterae 
signifies  in  the  first  instance  what  is  committed  to 
writing,  especially  a  letter:  and  only  at  a  later  stage 
science  in  general.  In  the  Greek  language  the  words 
iroiuk,  TTpdrTHv,  and  ayjtj/,  to  act  or  do,  which  have  de- 
veloped a  vague  and  colourless  meaning,  manifest 
in  the  substantives  derived  from  them  three  essential 
characteristics  of  the  Greek  popular  character — 
TTo/ncTK,  Trp^^^g  (Homer),  cHyuu:  the  taste  for  poetry 
and  art  in  general,  for  trade  and  for  contests.    The 

*  Uxor  is  now  supposed  to  mean  "the  woman  carried  home." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  27 

Roman  derivatives  answering  to  the  Greek  assume 
a  political,  or,  at  any  rate,  a  practical  signification, 
far  removed  from  any  notions  of  literary  or  artistic 
taste.  The  religious  side  of  the  Roman  character 
comes  out  in  such  ancient  derivations  as  ag-ere,  as 
axamen^a,  and  indigitamenta  [but  both  these  words 
are  now  connected  with  aio\  acta  diurna  would  be  a 
better  instance]. 

15.    The    Roman  holds   pleasures    to   be   mere 
temptations  {deliciae   and  delectare  from  delicereY 
and   we    may   gather   his    ideas    of   dancing   from 
Cicero^s  utterance:  "Nemo  fere  saltat  sobrius,  nisi 
forte  insanit^t   (Pro   Mur.    13).     An    honest   man 
may  indeed  allow  himself  to  thaw  a  trifle  over  his 
meals:  convivitim  is,  according  to  the   Roman,   "a 
living  together"  in  the  literal  sense:  a  favourable 
opportunity   for  exchange    of  thought,    not   for   a 
carouse,  as  with  Teutonic  nations,  with  whom  it 
might  be  more  correctly  described  as  a  convimum, 
just  as  the  Greeks  call  it  a  symposium,    Cicero  is 
fully  justified  in  putting  into  the  mouth  of  the  elder 
Cato  the  words :  "  Bene  maiores  accubitionem  epu- 
larum  amicorum,  quia  vitae  coniunctionem  haberet, 
convivium  nominaverunt  melius  quam  Graeci,  qui 
hoc  idem  tum  compotationem,  tum  concenationem 
vocant,  ut  quod  in  eo  genere  minimum  est,  id  maxime 
probare  videantur." 

Of  the  good  gifts  of  life  Glory  is  the  noblest. 

*  More  probably  connected  with  laqueiis,  a  snare. 
t  Macrobius,  Sat.  ii,  10,  devotes  a  chapter  to  proving  that  the 
ancient  Romans  saw  no  harm  in  dancing  or  singmg. 


y" 


28       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Hence  to  be  ignored  {ignominid)  is  the  greatest 
dishonour.  "  Apex  autem  senectutis  auctoritas  est " 
(Cic.  De  Sen.  17,  60).  Virtus  is  the  essence  of 
all  that  shows  man  in  his  best  and  noblest  light; 
and  it  brings  into  special  prominence  his  bravery 
("melius  est  virtute  jus;  nam  saepe  virtutem  mali 
nanciscuntur,"  Enn.  Fr.  223,  v).  Later  it  comes 
to  mean  uprightness  in  general.  The  Romance 
languages  have  adopted  only  the  latter  meaning 
(Fr.  la  vertM,  It.  virtu,  Span,  virtud).  The  Greek, 
on  the  other  hand,  held  moderation,  or  o-wippoo-uk^,  as 
the  highest  virtue.  The  maxim  \*.r\Sky  olyocv  was  attri- 
buted to  one  of  the  seven  wise  men;  and  it  appeared 
in  the  Pronaos  of  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi 
side  by  side  with  the  caution  '*  know  thyself"  (yvuit 

(TiOCVTOy), 

The  corresponding  Roman  word  [modestid]  has 
received  its  colouring  from  Roman  ideas  and  has 
come  to  signify  political  loyalty,  while  in  its  military 
usage  it  means  a  sense  of  discipline.  Bonus  denotes 
in  a  legal  sense  a  man  of  honour,  and  in  a  political 
sense  a  patriot;  /ortis  unites  in  old  Latin  the  two 
meanings  of  brave  and  noble  (cf.  Plaut.  Trin.  v, 
2,  9,  and  O.  Hey,  "  Semasiolog.  Studien,"  Leipzig, 
1 89 1,  p.  1 14);  mot/is  has  a  more  or  less  depreciatory 
connotation,  for  constancy  and  rigour  are  the  qual- 
ities prized.  The  Romans  call  an  impudent  person 
a  novelty,  or,  as  we  should  say,  2l  freak  {insolens).  It 
is  significant  too  that  Cicero  renders  the  Greek  word 
KaXov,  beautiful,  or  morally  good,  by  honestum,  hon- 
ourable  (cf.  Cic.  De  Off.  ed,  Heine,  p.  23). 

The  Greeks,  then,  look  at  morality  from  an  aes- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


29 


thetic  point  of  view,  and  thereby  betray  their  artistic 
appreciation  of  this  virtue.  The  Romans,  on  the 
other  hand,  think  first  and  foremost  of  the  impres- 
sion likely  to  be  made  on  others  by  moral  actions, 
and  they  show  their  full  sense  of  the  value  of  such 
impression  :  Honour  brings  honourable  posts  (*'  Hon- 
estum  fert  honores"). 

The  temples  of  Virtus  and  of  Honos  stood  side 
by  side  in  Rome,  and  in  fact  after  the  victory  over 
the  Cimbri  the  two  deities  were  united  in  one  temple. 

16.  The  pride  of  self-consciousness  is  manifested 
in  the  Roman  denomination  of  the  Mediterranean 
as  mare  nostrum.  And  indeed  the  sea  which  had 
once  been  swayed  by  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Carth- 
aginians, and  Etrurians,  and  which  had  assumed 
Greek  names  even  for  the  portions  adjoining  Italy 
(such  as  Tyrrhenean  and  Ionic  Sea),  had  passed 
into  Roman  possession  from  Cyprus  to  the  pillars 
of  Hercules.  The  British,  who  rule  the  Ocean  and 
despise  other  European  nations,  express  the  Latin 
ego  by  I,  always  expressed  in  capital  letters:  can  we 
then  grudo^e  the  Roman  this  mark  of  his  self-com- 
placency  ? 

The  pious  Israelite  in  sign  of  greeting  cries 
"Peace  be  with  thee!"  the  merry  Greek  shouts 
Xar/)£,  rejoice!  The  Roman  regards  health  and 
strength  as  the  prime  necessities  of  life:  hence  his 
greeting  is  vale!  and  salve!  "  Bide  ye  strong  and 
bide  ye  healthy !  " 

Names  of  measures  of  length,  which  in  Greek 
are  often  taken  from  recreation  grounds  and  from 


30      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

sports  (cf.  ardiiov,  SoX^x"^,  Irririxov,  etc.),  are  formed  in  a 
much  less  imaginative  fashion  by  the  Romans,  who 
reproduce  in  language  merely  the  number  of  the 
feet  {duo  millia,  i.e.,  passuum,  etc.).  Similarly  Roman 
coins  are  named  according  to  the  sum  of  the  asses 
which  they  contain :  thus  sestertius  =  sem-is-tertius, 
lit.  the  third  half  of  an  as,  i.c,  2\  asses,  denarius  = 
deni  asses.  We  may  contrast  with  these  names  such 
Greek  words  as  i(^oXo^  [probably  =  copper  nails  used 
as  money]  cTpaxi^r,  ht.  a  handful,  xaAakTov,  a  weight. 

1 7.  We  may  now  consider  the  methods  used  by 
the  Roman  to  denominate  the  months  of  year. 
Many  of  them  he  simply  denotes  numerically,  as 
September,  October,  November',  and  we  know  that  in 
addition  to  these  there  were  originally  a  Quintilis 
and  a  Sextilis,  whose  names  were  changed  in  honour 
of  Julius  Caesar  and  Augustus.  A  significant  con- 
trast to  such  names  is  seen  in  the  old  German  and 
Greek  nomenclatures.  The  Roman  method  reminds 
us  of  the  American  s  method  of  simply  numbering 
the  streets  of  his  towns  instead  of  naming  them  after 
distinguished  persons  or  accidents  of  situation. 

We  need  not  be  surprised  at  finding  that  the 
Romans  apply  the  same  numerical  method  of  nomen- 
clature to  their  system  of  proper  names,  with  the 
result  that  many  of  these  remind  us  of  a  numbered 
exhibition  catalogue,  e.g.,  Quintus.  Sextus,  Septimus, 
Octavus,  Decimus,  and  again  the  names  Sextms,  Sep- 
timius,  Octavius,  Nonius,  Decitis. 

There  are  yet  other  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
a  scrutiny  of  Roman  proper  names.    Originally  they 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


31 


were  appellatives,  and  they  bring  out  some  marked 
taste  on  the  part  of  the  parents  who  conferred  the 
name,  more  commonly  a  wish  expressed  by  these  for 
the  future  of  their  child.  And,  indeed,  it  seems  quite 
natural  that  parents  should  wish  to  endow  their  off- 
spring with  some  name  expressive  of  the  quality 
which  would  be  most  useful  to  them  throughout 
their  whole  life.  Our  Teutonic  ancestors,  who 
combined  passionate  love  for  quarrels  and  fighting 
with  a  deeply  religious  spirit,  manifested  in  the 
names  which  they  gave  their  children  the  feelings 
which  animated  their  own  hearts:  hence  a  large 
proportion  of  German  [and  of  English]  names  re- 
call memories  of  war  cries  and  bellicose  sounds; 
others  again  reveal  what  our  forefathers  regarded  as 
the  ideals  of  life,  such  as  Prudence,  Force,  Wealth, 
Constancy,  Courage,  and  Daring  [cf.  in  English 
such  names  as  Wise,  Good,  Strong,  Richard,  Steel, 
Dare,  etc.].  Greek  names  likewise  denote  such  noble 
and  sublime  qualities  as  youth  may  fitly  imitate; 
they  contain  ideas  of  Glory,  Valour,  skill  in  wielding 
weapons,  or  again,  of  political  influence:  most  of 
these  end  in  -xArf?,  i.e.,  xAfo?,  glory,  or  begin  with 
Kauto-,  KAfo-.  Names  of  this  kind  are  comparatively 
rare  among  the  Romans  :  on  the  other  hand  their 
taste  for  agriculture  and  for  cattle-breeding  comes 
out  strongly  in  their  nomenclature.  Pliny  the  Elder 
has  remarked  (Nat.  Hist,  xviii,  3)  that  Fabius 
means  Beanman,  Lentulus,  Lentilman,  Piso  and 
Cicero,  Peaman  (from  pistim  and  cicer  respectively), 
and  the  gentile  names  of  the  Porcii,  Asinii,  Vitellii, 
Caninii,  Caprarii,   Ovidii,  Ovinii  (cf.  also   Taurus, 


^ 


32   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

AseUio,  Bubulcus,   etc.),  all  seem  taken  from  the 
names  of  domestic  animals.*     Besides  this,   there 
are  in  Latin  many  more  proper  names  derived  from 
bodily  peculiarities,  such  as  infirmities  of  any  kind, 
or  the  colour  of  the  hair,  than  we  find  to  be  the  case 
with  either  Greeks  or  Teutons.    A  whole  series  of 
gentes  or  clans  bears  the  names  of  colours:  Albtt, 
Rufii,  Rutilii,  Flavii,  Livii,  Caesii,  Fulvii.  Nigtdtt, 
etc.:    then  there    are   proper   names    like  Plancus 
(Broadfoot),   Plotus,  Pedo,    Peducaeus   (Flat    foot), 
Scaurus,  Varus,  Varro,  Valgius  (Crooked  leg),  Clau- 
dius (Lame),  Flaccus{S\3.ck),  Sulla  from  sura,  surula 
(Small  calf),  Capita  (Great   head),    Pronto  (Great 
hxo^),Mento  (Chin-man),  iVa;^^  (Nosey),  Silo  (Snub 
nose),  Labeo  (Big  lip),  Bucco  (Big  mouth),  Dentio 
(Big  tooth),  Barbo  (Big  beard),  Balbzis  (Stutterer), 
Turpio  (Ugly  man),t  Lurco  (Glutton),  Strabo,  Paetus 
(Squinter),  Calviis  and  Glabrio  (Bald  head),  Crisptis 
(Curly  head),   Crassus  (Thickman),    Tubero  (Crook- 
back),  Naevius    (Warty),    Stolo%    (Dullman),    etc. 
[so  too  Brutus]  (cf.   Horace,   Sat.  i,  3,   44)-    Such 
names  as  these  (and  more  might  be  added)  show 
the  delight  manifested  by  the  Romans  in  marking 
and  pillorying  bodily  defects,  and  how  they  loved 
twitting  each  other  and  holding  each  other  up  to 
ridicule.    All  the  proper  names  cited  above  are,  in 

*  Macrobius,  Sat.  i,  6,  ad  fin-,  explains  the  origin  of  the 
Roman  names  Scrofa  and  Asina. 

t  Plautus,  Most.  4,  2,  I,  coins  a  nickname  i?«ftb— rope-man, 
i.e.,  gallow's-bird— a  parody  on  such  names. 

+  Stolo  is  properly  "  a  stock,"  and  Varro  (R.  R.  1,  2,  9)  plays 
upon  his  name. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


33 


fact,  nicknames,  and  exemplify  the  *'  Italum  ace- 
tum"  (Horace,  Sat.  i,  7,  32).  The  Romans  were, 
in  fact,  at  once  coloni  and  **  clowns,"  like  the  English 

of  old.* 

We  conceive  a  higher  idea  of  the  Roman  imagina- 
tion as  evinced  in  its  nomenclature  when  we  turn  to 
the  list  of  stately  agnomina  conferred  on  victorious 
generals,  AfricanuSy  Asiaticus,  Numantmus,  Numi- 
dicus,  Creticus,  etc.  The  names  were,  of  course, 
taken  from  the  name  of  the  country  in  which  they 
had  gained  their  renown.  They  testify  at  once  to 
the  deep  gratitude  borne  by  the  Romans  to  those 
who  had  succeeded  in  bringing  great  wars  to  a  happy 
conclusion,  and  to  the  pride  and  respect  with  which 
they  uttered  the  names  of  such  heroes.  And  this 
custom  harmonizes  with  the  Roman  habit  of  select- 
ing the  most  impressive  method  possible  of  celebrat- 
ing great  occasions  in  Roman  national  life,  methods 
which  could  not  fail  to  strike  the  imagination  of  the 
beholders,  such  as  the  triumphal  processions,  and 
the  ceremonies  observed  in  a  declaration  of  war. 
With  the  Greeks,  whose  highest  ambition  was  to 
win  an  olive  crown  in  the  Olympic  games,  we  find 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Modern  civilized  nations  have, 
however,  in  many  cases  copied  the  Roman  usage: 
cf.  Blucher  von  Wahlstatt,  York  von  Wartenburg, 
Lannes,  due  de  Montebello,  Massena,  due  de  Rivoli, 
Diebitsch  Sabalkansky,  Pasjewitsch  Eriwansky 
[Lord  Napier  of  Magdala,  Lord  Dufferin  of  Ava, 
Lord  Kitchener  of  Khartoum]. 

*  Coloni  and  clowns  are  not  etymologically  connected;  the 
latter  word  is  probably  of  Scandinavian  origin.    See  Skeat,  s.v. 

D 


n 
D 


4      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

1 8.  What  do  we  learn  from  the  names  of  the 
gods  ?   For  they,  too,  throw  light  on  the  thoughts 
and  genius  of  the  people  who  worship  them.   Myth- 
ology is  the  product  of  popular  imagination ;    it  is 
closely  bound  up  with  the  spirit  of  the  people,  and 
thus  serves  as  an  index  to  their  profoundest  thoughts. 
In  the  legends  of  the  Hellenic  deities  do  we  not  see 
mirrored  the  brightness  of  the  Greek  skies,  and  the 
graceful  charm   that  was   the   prerogative   of  the 
Hellenic  nation?  In  old  German  myths  do  we  not 
see  a  reproduction  of  the  seriousness  and  the  melan- 
choly of  Northern  races?  But  besides  these  general 
traits,  our   interest   is  further   challenged  by   the 
changes  undergone  by  separate  ancient  deities,  as 
modified   by  the  character  of  each  nation   among 
whom  their  cult  has  prevailed.    It  is  highly  charac- 
teristic of  the  mental  attitude  of  our  Teutonic  fore- 
fathers  that   they  should  have  taken   the  highest 
deity  of  the  Indo-Germanic  primitive  epoch— the 
ZfuV  of  the  Greeks  and  J ovis-pater=  Jupiter  of  the 
Romans,   and,  under  the  name  of  Tin  connected 
him  with  war,  and  made  him  their  war  god.    Side  by 
side  with  him,  the  Franks  first,  and  shortly  after 
them  the  other  German  tribes,  revered  Wotan,  the 
wind  god,  the  representative  of  the  cloud-covered 
Heavens,  and  of  the  raging  storms  (O.H.G.  Wuotan 
is  connected  with  N.H.G.  ;^«^  =  wrath).    Thus  the 
dispenser  of  the  radiant  light  which  spread  over 
Italy  and  Greece  had  to  give  place  to  the  god  of  the 
northern  cloudy  sky:  but  at  his  side  sat  his  sister 
and  spouse,  Freia,  the  loving  and  kindly  mother  of 
the  gods.     Thus  the  names  of  Tiu  and  of  Freia 


liVf 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


35 


i\ 


represent  the  twofold  aspect  of  the  Teutonic  nature: 
the  mood  for  battle  and  the  mood  for  profundity  and 
earnestness;  the  two  moods  which  we  have  already 
observed  to  be  denoted  by  their  personal  names. 

In  primitive  times  the  Romans  held  their  most 
important  deities  to  be  the  agricultural  god  Saturnus, 
protector  of  crops  {sala)  and  the  war  god  Mars 
[Sabine  Marners].  A  number  of  Italian  names  of 
tribes  and  places  were  taken  from  Mars :  such  as 
the  Marsi,  Marrucini,  Mamertini,  Marruvium,  etc. 
The  first  month  in  the  Roman  year,  the  mensis 
Martins,  takes  its  name  from  this  god :  and  Mars 
is  dignified  with  the  same  honourable  title  as  Jove 
himself  (Marspiter),  in  fact,  his  name  is  in  common 
metonymic  use  for  bellum,  as  in  the  phrases  aequo 
Marie,  suo  Marte,  etc.  Originally,  like  most  of  the 
Aryan  deities,  a  god  of  light*  he  was  metamor- 
phosed into  a  war  god  by  a  warlike  people.  Saturn 
was  not  identified  with  Kpovo?  until  the  influence  of 
Greek  culture  began  to  make  itself  felt  in  Italy. 
After  this  identification  he  is  revered  as  the  father 
of  Jupiter,  now  raised  again  to  the  highest  seat  of 
power:  Mars,  on  the  other  hand,  appears  as  his  son, 
just  as  Tiu  appears  as  the  son  of  Wotan  and  Freia. 
Saturnus  owns  Ops  as  his  consort,  the  goddess  of 
agricultural  prosperity  and  agricultural  industry  (cf 
optisc\  whence  too  the  Osci  =  Opsci,  rural  workers, 
take  their  name).    Side  by  side  with  these  we  find 

*  Cf.  ^apiLLaipio.  Very  probably,  however,  the  name  Mars  is  con- 
nected with  iidpva^ai.   See  Walde,  s.v.  Mars. 

t  Opus  is,  however,  probably  unconnected  with  ops:  opus  = 
Sanskrit  dpnas,  wealth;  ops  =  Sanskrit  dpas,  worth. 


ill 


36       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

in  earliest  antiquity  a  numerous  company  of  other 
agricultural  deities,  such  as  Ceres,  the  deity  who 
presides  over  Cerealia;  Flora,  the  flower  goddess; 
Maia,  deity  of  the  Spring  to  whom  the  barrow-pig 
{Maialis)  was  consecrated  and  sacrificed,*  Tellus, 
the   god   of  the   fruit-bearing   earth,   Faunus   (the 
favouring  deity,  ixomfavere\  the  protector  of  herds 
worshipped  as  the  wolf-scarer  under  the  name  of 
Lupercus  {lupos  arcens\  Pales,  the  tutelary  deity  of 
shepherds  and  cattle,  Terminus,  the  god  of  bound- 
aries, and  Pomona,  who  produces  fruit  in  its  season. 
But  when  we  look  for  ancient  Roman  gods  of  the 
sea  and  of  rivers,  we  look  in  vain.    The  sea  and  all 
its  wonders  have  no  attraction  for  the  Romans,  and 
hence  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  deities  of  the  river 
and  sea  are  of  Grecian  or  Etrurian  origin,  or  at  any 
rate  they  have  taken  their  rise  under  the  influence 
of  these  nations.     Neptunus,   the   ancient   Roman 
cloud-god,  suffered  his  transformation  under  Hel- 
lenic influences,  t 

The  Greeks,  then,  by  the  aid  of  their  lively  ima- 
gination  and  their  refined  aesthetic  sense,  created 
tangible  and  palpable  images  of  their  own  deities. 
The  soberer  imagination  of  the  Romans  contented 
itself  with  mere  abstractions,  and  their  creations 
were  lifeless  by  comparison.  \    On  the  other  hand, 

♦  Maia  and  maialis  are,  however,  only  connected  by  popular 
etymology.   See  Macrob.  Sat.  i,  12. 

t  Macrobius,  Sat.  i,  17,  tells  us  that  Neptune  was  called  both 
i^oerfveo^v  and  a^^aXc'a>v^at  once  earth's  shaker  and  pacifier- 
epithets  more  appropriate  to  a  deity  of  the  sky  than  of  the  sea^ 

X  Cf.  Macrob.  Sat.  i,  7-  ''Antevorta  et  Postvoria  apud  Ro- 
manos  coluntur."   So  Forrima,  Ov.  Fast,  i,  633. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


Z7 


% 


they  feel  it  their  bounden  duty,  owing  to  their  con- 
scientious scrupulousness  in  religious  observances, 
to  set  apart  special  divinities  to  preside  over  every 
possible  manifestation  of  human  activity.  The 
countryman,  on  first  ploughing  up  the  soil,  invoked 
the  Vervactor:  at  his  second  ploughing,  th^Redara- 
tor:  on  drawing  the  furrows,  xh^Imporcitor:  on  sow- 
ing, the  Insitor:  on  commencing  to  cross  plough, 
the  Obarator:  to  harrow,  the  Occator:  to  weed,  the 
Sarritor:  to  trench,  the  Subruncator:  to  mow,  the 
Messor:  to  bind  the  sheaves,  the  Connector:  to  store 
in  granaries,  the  Conditor,  and  so  on.  The  Roman 
people  impressed  even  on  their  deified  virtues  and 
qualities  that  practical  character  which  appears  in 
their  moral  views. 

19.  Another  important  criterion  of  the  connection 
between  language  and  national  character  consists  in 
proverbial  expressions  and  '*  winged  words."  Goethe 
said :  "  Proverbs  mark  nations,  but  these  nations 
must  have  been  their  home."  And  it  is  a  fact  that 
none  can  appreciate  the  close  relationship  between 
a  nation's  humour  and  its  proverbs  but  one  who  has 
had  his  finger  on  that  nation's  pulse,  and  is  suffi- 
ciently familiar  with  its  thoughts  and  feelings. 
Proverbs  touch  every  side  of  popular  humour :  they 
disclose  to  us  its  attitude  towards  the  animal  world, 
to  nature,  and  to  all  objects  which  recall  primitive 
times  and  the  childish  simplicity  of  view  of  primitive 
people.  They  give  us  a  purview  of  a  nation's  pro- 
cess in  culture,  and  enable  us  to  realize  how  it  judges 
of  its  neighbours  and  of  its  progenitors.    Thus  it  is 


HI 


38   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

interesting  to  observe  how  prone  the  Romans  were 
to  hold  up  to  ridicule  the  prominent  characteristics 
and  the  disagreeable  traits  of  foreign  nationalities, 
with  whom  commercial  or  other  dealings  brought 
them  into  contact.    It  is  equally  instructive  to  note 
how  eager  these  same  Romans  were  to  magnify  the 
glorious  deeds  of  their  own  ancestors.*    If  we  take 
proverbial  phrases  (for  such  they  have  become)  like 
Punica  fides  (treachery),  Gallorum  credulitas,  Cam- 
panorum  arrogatttia,\  we  are  able  to  recognize  not 
merely  that  the  bad  qualities  referred  to  were  be- 
lieved by  the  Romans  to  be  inherent  in  those  na- 
tions.t  but  further  that  the  nations  thus  stigmatized 
were   from    the    earliest    times    strangers    to    the 
Romans,   and   were    regarded  by  them  with  little 
sympathy.  In  contrast  to  such  phrases  stands  "  more 
Romano  "  or  "  Latine  loqui  "  (cf.  Cic.  Phil.  8,  6,  and 
Wolfflin's  "Archiv.,"  iii,  376a).  This  phrase  signifies 
to  speak  out  truly  and  plainly,  and  it  is  not  hard  to 
parallel  in  modern  times.    In  German  and  English 
alike,  if  we  desire  to  insist  on  an  unpalatable  truth, 
we  commonly  say,  "  to  speak  in  good  plain  German  " 
or  "  English  "  as  the  case  may  be.§ 

Again,  we  know  that  the  Greeks  used  to  drink 
out  of  larger  wine-cups  than  the  Romans.    Accord- 

*  Cf  Macrob.  Sat.  ii,  x,  "  Vetustas  quidem  nobis  semper,  si 
sapimus,  adoranda  est.  lUa  quippe  saecula  sunt,  quae  hoc  impe- 
rium  vel  sanguine  vel  sudore  pepererunt." 

t  Cf.  Cic.  In  Pisonem,  11,  "buccae  dignae  Capua." 

t  Cf.  Macrob.  Sat.  i,  Introd.  "  '  Sum  '  inquit, '  homo  Romanus, 
natus  in  Latio,  et  eloquium  Graecum  a  nobis  ahenissimum  est 

§  Other  such  popular  maxims  were,  "crassa  Minerva";  "hoc 
age  ";  "leges  bonae  ex  malis  moribus  procreantur." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  39 

ingly  we   find  not  merely  the  expressions  Graeco 
more  bibere,  pergraecari  {i.e.,  "  maioribus  poculis  bi- 
bere  "),  but  we  have  the  Latin  expression  for  "  be- 
tween the  lip  and  the  cup"— "Inter  os  et  offam" 
(Gell.   xiii,    18,    i),   as  contrasted  with   the  Greek 
iroxxoi,  (A-tTxli  TrlXf.  jtu'x.xoc  xal  x"''^"^  "^"P""-    ^"^  where 
the  Germans  say  of  a  person  of  whom  nothing  can 
ever  be  made,  "  All  the  hops  and  malt  in  the  world 
can  make  nothing  of  him,"  the  Romans  say  "  operam 
et   oleum    perdidi,"*   a   metaphor  taken  from   the 
gladiatorial  schools.    Moreover,  in  the  spirit  with 
which  the  Romans  mention  disastrous  episodes  in 
their   country's    history,   and   the    names  of  their 
national  heroes,  we  may  note  a  great  difference  from 
that  of  the  Greeks.    The  Romans  take  such  events 
as  th^pugna  Osculana,  Cannensis,  etc.,  as  stepping- 
stones    ia    their    history,    and    for   their    national 
heroes  tliey  adopt  Romulus  f  and  Remus,  Camillus, 
[Cethegus],  Curius  Dentatus,  Fabricius,  the  rigorous 
moralist.  Cato,  and  Fabius  Maximus,  the  hero  who 
-  Cunctxndo  restituit  rem."    The  Hellenes  prefer  to 
cite  the  names  of  those  of  their  countrymen  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  science  and  art,  as  stock 
examples  of  those  whom  it  is  their  delight  to  re- 
member with  honour.     Perhaps    it   has  also  some 
significance  that,  among  all  the  Roman  gods  and 
heroes,   none  enters  so  frequently  into  proverbial 
expressions  as  the  puissant  figure  of  Hercules  {Ex 

*  "Tis  labour  lost,"  or,  as  the  vulgar  proverb  has  it,  "You 
cannot  make  a  silk  purse  out  of  a  sow*s  ear." 

t  Cf.  Macrob.   Sat.  ii,  17  "(Romuli)  vita  virtutes  nunquam 

deseruit." 


I 


40   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

pede   Herculem,   mekercule,  Herculi  quaestum  con- 
terere,  Plaut.  Most.  4,  2,  68]. 

20.  And  now  for  the  "winged  words"  or  dicta  which 
have  passed  into  maxims.     We  may  for  our  purpose 
disregard  all  such  as  owe  their  origin  to  Greek  cul- 
ture and  passed  from  the  mouths  of  educated  and 
influential  families  into  the  speech  of  the  people,  such 
as  Circaeum  poculum,  Alcinoi  dapes,  etc.  ["  Epicuri 
porcus"].*      There   remains   a  large    remnant    of 
regular  Roman  dicta  which  were  the  genuine  output 
of  Roman   feeling  simply  because  they  were  the 
expression  of  the  heart  of  the  people.    This  holds 
true  not  merely  of  the  characteristic  utterances  of 
old  Cato,    and  of   the   still    more   ancient   Appms 
Claudius,  but  of  many  epigrammatic  sayings  of  later 
authors.    What  phrase  reflects  more  accurately  the 
genuine  view  of  a   Roman  than   the   well-known 
"  Fortes  fortuna  adiuvat"?    And  hence  it  comes  to 
pass  that  no  phrase  in  all  Roman  literature  occurs, 
with   its  variants,   so   frequently   as    this.      From 
'    Ennius  and  Terence  down  to  Lucan  and  C  audian, 
we  find  Roman  authors  ringing  the  same  changes.! 
And  could  any  words  more  truly  reflect  the  com- 
placent haughtiness  of  the  Roman  character  than 
the  exclamation  of  Atreus  in  Accius  (203  Ribbeck), 
"  Oderint,  dum  metuant! "    We  are  not  surprised  to 
find  that  it  is  so  often  harped  on  and  cited.    We 

*  Cf.  "Non  cuivis  homini  contingit  adire  Corinthum,"  Hor. 

Ep.  i,  17,  36.  ,         ,    „•  J 

t  Cf.  "  Romani  audendo,  et  fallendo,  et  bella  .ix  belhs  serendo, 

magni  facti,"  Tac.  Hist,  ii,  71. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


41 


i 


meet  with  it  no  less  than  three  times  in  Cicero 
(Phil,  i,  14,  34;  De  Off.  i,  28-97;  Pro  Sestio,  48, 
102);  Caligula  frequently  quoted  it,  as  we  are 
told  '  by  his  biographer  (Suet.  Calig.  30) ;  and 
we  may  gather  from  the  pages  of  the  gentle,  nay 
almost  Christian,  Seneca,  that  the  phrase  had,  even 
in  later  times,  not  lost  its  power  of  fanning  the  glow 
of  martial  ardour  in  Roman  hearts.  That  philo- 
sopher employs  it  several  times  (De  Ira,  i,  20,  4; 
De  dementia,  i,  12,  3,  and  ii,  2,  2),  and  he  couples 
it  with  the  remark:  "  Illud  mecum  considero  multas 
voces  magnas  sed  detestabiles  in  vitam  humanam 
pervenisse  celebresque  vulgo  ferri,  ut  illam  :  oderint, 
dum  metuant."  Again,  Cicero's  remark  "Silent 
leges  inter  arma  "  notoriously  passed  into  the  com- 
mon stock  of  the  entire  nation:  Quintilian  (v,  14,  1 7) 
and  Lucan  (i,  277)  refer  to  it  in  their  works. 

21.  We  can  hardly  be  surprised  that  a  nation  in 
whom  intelligence  was  so  strongly  developed  as  it 
was  in  the  Romans  should  have  manifested  a  great 
predilection  for  playing  upon  words.  This  tendency 
shows  itself  at  every  period  of  Roman  literature, 
more  particularly  in  the  comic  poets  and  orators, 
but  also  in  the  epic  and  lyric  poets.  Plautus,  Cicero, 
and  Ovid  are  inexhaustible  in  their  store  of  puns.* 
Each  writer  seizes  on  any  occasion  for  introducing 
such:  indeed,  not  infrequently,  the  same  pun  is 
employed    to    satiety.      We    may    remember    the 

*  Macrobius  has  six  chapters  on  Roman  jokes  and  puns.  Sat. 
ii,  cap.  I  sgq.  JuUa,  the  daughter  of  Augustus,  was  particularly 
noted  for  her  smart  sayings. 


i 


II 


42   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

laborious  frequency  of  play  on  the  word   Verves  in 
Cicero's  Verrine  orations  *  and  his  tedious  juggling 
with  the  double  meanings  of  such  names  as  Brutus, 
Balbus,  Lepidus,  etc.,  in  his  letters  to  Atticus  [cf. 
**  aureum  nomen  Chrysogoni  "].    It  may  be,  too,  that 
many  verbal  quips  occur  in  literature  which  have 
escaped  our  notice  from  insufficient  knowledge  of 
historical  occurrences,  f  Cicero,  in  his  orations,  strains 
after  this  method  of  producing  effect,  that  he  may 
tickle  the  jaded  ears  of  his  audience.    In  this  respect 
he  forms  a  decided  contrast  to  the  Greek  orator 
Demosthenes,  with  whom  verbal  echoes  like  paVa? — 
p>Ou/xnk  (01.  i,  13)  are  comparatively  rare.    Besides 
this  we    hear  from    Plutarch    and    Quintilian    that 
Cicero   employed    witticisms  in    his   ordinary  con- 
versation  to  an  even    greater    extent  than  in   his 
writings  (cf  Herwig,  **  Das  Wortspiel  in  Cicero's 
Reden,"  Attendorn,  1889). 

22.  The  syntax  of  a  language,  no  less  than  the 
signification  of  the  words,  carries  the  mark  of  the 
spirit  of  the  people.  A  masculine  and  vigorous 
tone  characterizes  the  construction  of  Latin  sen- 
tences— an  energizing  breath  of  logical  consecution — 
which  marks  the  Latin  language  as  a  fit  vehicle  for 
oratory,  more  particularly  for  speeches  spoken  by 
the  accusing  counsel,  and  for  the  historian  of  cam- 
paigns, but  as  a  less  suitable  medium  for  lyrical 
expression.    No   one  was    more   conscious  of  this 

*  Cf.  In  Verr.  iii,  §  46,  ad  fin. 

t  Tibullus  calls  his  first  love  Delia,  from  B^Xoe,  her  real  name 
being  Fiania.   See  Postgate's  "Tibullus,"  Introduction,  p.  xx. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  43 

defect  than  the  Romans  themselves.    Quintilian,  for 
example,  declares  his  conviction  that  it  is  impossible 
for  Latin  writers  to  attain  to  Hellenic  grace  and 
attractiveness  (xii,   10,  36).     ^' Non  possumus  esse 
tam  graciles,  simus  fortiores:    subtilitate  vincimur, 
valeamus    pondere."     And  if   it  be   granted   that 
Cicero  succeeded  in  rendering  the  Latin  language 
more    flexible,   by  modelling  it   on  the  Greek,  it 
must  also  be  noted  that  such  transformation  was 
only  partially  possible :  a  complete  revolution  in  the 
genius  of  the  language  would  only  have  been  pos- 
sible by  an  absolutely  new  creation  and  a  radical 
revolution    in  the   genius  of  the  people.    Cicero's 
followers,  too,  lag  behind  their  master  in  grace  of 
style.    The  truth  was,  that  in  order  to  ensure  the 
growth  of  the  new  graft  by  which  Cicero  wished  to 
improve  the  stock  of  the  mother  tongue,  one  neces- 
sary  condition  was  absent:   the  Roman   remained 
always  a  Roman,  and  could  never  belie  his  nature: 
'^  Naturam  expellas  furca,  tamen  usque  recurret.'' 

23.  The  first  feature  that  strikes  us  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  Latin  sentence  is  the  energy  and 
dectsion,  the  virility  and  the  dignity  which  radiate 
from  its  very  form.  There  is  hardly  any  trace  of 
affectation  or  literary  refinement.  The  periods  sue- 
ceed  each  other  with  dignity  and  in  well  marked 
cadence— spirited  and  irresistible  like  the  Roman 
legionary.  Their  entire  colouring  recalls  to  us  the 
picture  of  his  weather-beaten  face,  and  their  stately 
march  reminds  us  of  his  proud  and  masterful  bearing. 
In  fact,  this  well-matched  pair,  warrior  and  language, 


111 


11 


11  J 


44      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

have  stepped  forth  from  their  home  in  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  victory,  and  have  overcome  the  v^orld 
between  them. 

Where  pathos  is  demanded,  the  style  of  the 
Romans  corresponds  with  their  love  of  rhetorical 
colouring.  In  consonance  with  their  love  of  oratory, 
expressions  are  unnaturally  inflated  in  places  where, 
according  to  our  taste,  simplicity  and  precision 
would  have  been  preferred.  We  cannot  then  be 
surprised  to  find  that  the  language  employed  often 
produces  the  effect  of  artificial  measurement  rather 
than  that  of  simple  and  unconstrained  movement, 
nor  that  the  phrase,  ''poets  and  prose-writers," 
should  be  represented  in  Latin  by  **  poetae  et  ora- 
tores."  The  superlative  degree  plays  an  important 
role  in  the  Latin  language,  not  merely  in  addresses 
like  "viri  nobilissimi,  amplissimi,  ornatissimi,"  but 
also  when  placed  in  apposition  to  proper  names,  e,g., 
"  Corinthus,  urbs  opulentissima."^  Not  infrequently 
we  find  the  "  Futurum  exactum  "  taking  the  place 
of  the  simple  future.  The  standard-bearer  of  the 
tenth  legion,  on  the  occasion  of  Caesar  s  landing  in 
Britain,  exclaims  (Caes.  B.  G.  iv,  25):  "  Desilite 
miUtes,  nisi  vultis  aquilam  hostibus  prodere:  ego 
certe  meum  reipublicae  atque  imperatori  officium 
praestitero."  The  plural  is  employed  instead  of  the 
singular  to  express  emphatically  and  distinctly  the 
strength  of  any  emotion.f  This  is  particularly 
remarkable  in  the  case  of  abstract  words. 

*  Cf.  "vir  fortissimus,  Piso  Aquitanus,"  Cic.  Verr.  4,  16. 
t  Cf.  inimicitiae,  repeated  acts  of  unfriendliness;  so  furiae,  ^tc. 
Cf.  also  such  uses  as  esuriiiones^  etc.,  stccitates  diudi  domes ticae  for ti- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


45 


24.  Another  distinctive  Roman  trait  reflected  in 
Latin  style  is  the  careful  and   strict   principle  of 
subordination.    That  force  of  will,  which  is  so  pro- 
minent  in   the    Roman   character,  gives  rise  to  a 
certain  stiffness  and  inflexibility  which  we  admire 
in  T.  Manlius  Torquatus,  and  many  others  of  his 
countrymen ;  hence  the  uncompromising  discipline, 
the  stout  soldierly  spirit,  and  the  unequalled  obedi- 
ence  to   orders,  which    characterize   the   Romans. 
It  is  not  without  significance  that  Cicero  employs 
the  word  velle  to  express  the  views  and  opinions  of 
his  ancestors  with  respect  to  what  they  deemed  the 
welfare  of  the  State  {e.g.y  Cic.  De  Off",  iii,  31,  iii; 
Pro  Lege  Man.   11,   39).     Here  again  the  Roman 
attitude  is   in   strong  contrast  with  the  Greek,  an 
attitude  which  Mommsen  characterizes  as  follows: 
"  The  Greek  sacrificed  the  whole  to  the  individual : 
the  nation  to  the  commune:  the  commune  to  the 
individual  burgess.    The  Greek's  first  proceeding, 
dictated  by  his  religious  views,  was  to  create  human 
beings  out  of  his  gods;  he  then  proceeded  to  deny 
their  existence :  the  Roman  kept  his  son  in  the  awe 
of  the  father:  the  citizen  in  the  awe  of  the  ruler, 
and  kept  every  one  in  the  fear  of  the  gods.   To  the 
Roman  the  State  was  all  in  all,  and  the  only  lofty 
idea  not  proscribed  to  him  was  the  enlargement  of 
the   State.      The   will   of  the   all-powerful    capital 
decided  the  destinies  of  the  provinces  :  every  one  in 
the  Empire  who  desired  a  wide  culture,  a  political 
post,  or  fame  and  distinction,  turned  his  gaze  on 

tudines,  cases  of  heroism  in  civil  life,  Cic.  De  Off.  i,  7^:  <^o^- 
scientiae^y^iioks  of  conscience;  spumae,  masses  of  foam. 


46       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Rome.  Centralization  was  carried  out  as  completely 
under  the  sway  of  Rome  as  under  our  neighbours, 
the  French.  In  the  same  way,  it  was  Rome  which 
was  responsible  for  the  formation  of  the  literary  lan- 
guage :  the  capital  of  the  empire  was  also  the  central 
point  of  literary  activity." 

The  principle  of  subordination  runs  through  all 
the  arrangement  of  sentences  and  words  in  classical 
Latin,  and  is  applied  much  more  widely  and  com- 
pletely than  in  any  other  of  the  Indo-Germanic 
languages.*  Even  the  Latin  poets  are  not  averse  to 
long  sentences, ^.^., Lucretius,  i,  930-50;  andCatullus, 
in  the  commencement  of  his  poem  on  Berenice, 
employs  a  lengthy  and  unbroken  period. 

The  Roman  writer  likes  to  make  his  main  thought 
stand  out  in  relief  by  duly  subordinating  the  less 
important  clauses  of  the  sentence ;  and  this  not  in- 
frequently in  cases  where  the  Greek,  the  German, 
and  the  Englishman  would  prefer  to  employ  co- 
ordinate sentences.  In  the  place  of  such  particles  as 
-  indeed  .  .  .  but,"  ''and  so,"  "and  hence,"  and  the 
Greek  (xlv,..  (Te,  we  find,  as  a  rule,  subordinate  clauses, 
denoting  time,  cause,  concession.  F.  A.  Krummacher 
has  engaged -in  some  rather  recondite  speculations 
on  the'words  "  and,"  '*  but,"  as  used  by  the  Hebrews 
and  Greeks  respectively,  and  has  endeavoured  to 
show  the  relations  of  these  words  to  the  intellectual 
life  of  those  two  nations.  No  doubt  he  pushes  these 
speculations  too  far,  and  he  reads  into  these  two 
little  words  more  than  they  really  contain;  but  it 
can  hardly  be  disputed  that  they  are  characteristic 

*  Cf.  Zielinski,  "  Our  Debt  to  Antiquity,"  lecture  i,  ad  pi. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


47 


of  the  genius  of  the  two  races.  The  emotional  and 
sensitive  Hebrew  thought  as  a  child  and  acted  as  a 
child,  and  his  language,  with  its  quaint  and  naive 
expressions,  was  the  language  of  childhood.  The 
imaginative  Greek  ,Vield  it  his  first  duty  to  render 
his  language  plastic  and  the  mirror  of  his  thouorhts. 
But  the  Latin.iis  of  another  cast.  In  every  trait  of 
that  languac^'e  we  catch  the  tendency  to  subordina- 
tion. Tho/method  of  connecting  sentences  by  means 
of  relative  clauses  (and  this  method  occurs  no  less 
than  t^iree  hundred  and  eighty  times  in  Caesar's  *'  De 
Belljo  Gallico"  and  ''De  Bello  Civili")  gives  ex- 
pj"G/ssion  to  this  tendency,  and  the  Latin  disposal  of 
it^i  moods  does  so  in  a  yet  higher  degree.  The 
Ljatin  usage  contrasts  with  that  of  German,  Greek, 
^fnd  English,  in  the  fact  that  it  has  developed 
Tadually,  in  place  of  the  Indicative  usual  in  asser- 
:ions,  the  dependent  method  of  speech  (conjunctive) 
Isimply  with  the  idea  of  bringing  the  subordination 
of  such  dependent  clauses  more  into  prominence, 
and  to  show  by  this  method  that  the  subordinate 
clause  represents  the  thought  of  the  speaker,  who 
is  regarded  as  the  subject. 

In  sentences  denoting  sequence,  and  in  sentences 
with  the  historic,  or  causal,  or  concessive  cum,  which 
in  older  stages  of  Latinity  are  not  uncommonly  em- 
ployed to  denote  a  fact  as  having  actually  occurred, 
in  ordinary  Latin,  the  dependent  form  of  the  sen- 
tence has  come  to  be  the  usual  type.  This  usage  is 
still  seen  in  the  case  of  qMoniam  =  quom  iam  =  cum 
iam  :  as,  indeed,  it  is  still  seen  after  the  Greek  con- 
junctions wo-Tf  and  Wti^  and  after  such  German  copu- 


48       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

lative  words  as  so  dass  and  ah  (cf.  English  '*  so 
that").    These  conjunctions  can  all  be  used  to  intro- 
duce actual  facts.    The  same  holds  good  of  indirect 
interrogative  sentences.    Indoed,  after  Livy's  time, 
this  usage  took  a  wider  range  and  spread  even  to 
such  words  as  priusquant  and  to   dtmi,  quamquam, 
etc.;    strictly    speaking,  words    introducing   simple 
narration,  without  any  clear  reason  appearing  in  the 
sentences  for  the  point  of  such  usage.    Again,  cum 
iterative  is,  before   Livy's  time,  seldom  co'mnected 
with  the  conjunctive  mood,  but  by  him   it   Ss  fre- 
quently  so  connected.    Cf.  xxi,   28,   10;  xxxiiti,   3, 
10. 

25.  This  unmistakable  note  of  discipline  and  suib- 
ordination   manifests   itself  in  the  orderly  way   I'n 
which  the  Romans  carry  out  the  sequence  of  thei  r 
tenses,  all  dependent  tenses  being  subordinated  tc ) 
the  main  clause:  and  it  again  comes  out  in  the  pre-^^ 
ference  shown  by  Latin  for  dependent  speech  {pratio  y 
obliqua\  in  which  sentence  after  sentence,  and  clause  \ 
after  clause,  are  set  under  the  strict  rigimeoi  a  single  ^ 
governing  verb  {dixit,  respondit,   etc.),  as   soldiers  \ 
under  that  of  a  general.    Here,  again,  we  have  a  con-    | 
trast  between  Latin  and  Greek.    Just  as  soldiers  in  a 
regiment  keep  their  eyes  fixed  on  their  commander, 
all  the  pronouns  in  oratio  obliqua  which  have  re- 
ference to  the  speaker  look  back  to  him.    Add  to 
this  the  marked  and  energetic  accent  which  doubt- 
less aided  to  invest  Latin  with  its  virile  and  almost 
defiant  qualities,  and  we  shall  understand  what  Heine 
said :  "  The  language  of  the  Romans  can  never  belie 


\ 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


49 


its  origin."  It  is  the  language  for  commanders 
in  the  field,  for  administrators  in  their  decretals,  the 
legal  language  for  usurers,  the  language  for  the  in- 
scriptions on  the  adamantine  Roman  people  (Heine, 
"Gesammelte  Werke,"  v,  144). 

Again,  in  the  management  of  the  Latin  accent,  the 
law  of  subordination  is  well  marked.  In  classical 
Latin  we  must  suppose  that  the  main  stress-accent 
fell  on  the  verb.  As  the  verb  was  in  most  cases 
shifted  to  the  end  of  the  sentence  this  accent  too 
gradually  passed  to  the  end  of  the  sentence,  and  the 
series  of  unaccented  or  weakly  accented  words  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  accented  or  stressed  expres- 
sion, as  effectually  as  the  lictors  who  preceded  him 
prepared  the  way  for  consul  or  dictator. 

26.  Another  sign  of  the  practical  turn  of  mind, 
and  clear  mental  vision  of  the  Romans,  is  found  in 
their  marked  preference  for  concrete  expression. 
The  Germans  (and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  the  English) 
prefer  to  soar  in  abstractions.  The  Roman,  on  the 
contrary,  is  a  realist:  he  prefers  to  take  a  positive 
and  actual  instance  to  a  general  conception.  We 
have  only  to  think  of  such  expressions  as  ''  urbe 
capta,"  after  the  taking  of  the  city;  "  prudentis  est," 
one  needs  prudence;  "  alicui  hortanti  parere,"  to  obey 
some  one's  exhortations:  "verum  dicere,"  to  speak 
the  truth;  "  ex  aliquo  quaerere  quid  sentiat,"  to  ask 
some  one's  opinion;  "  clamor  admirantium,"  a  shout 
of  admiration — and  we  shall  find  ample  confirmation 
of  this  statement  (cf.  also  such  expressions  as  "inter- 
fectus  Caesar  "  for  "  the  murder  of  Caesar  ";  ''  stans 

£ 


50   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Caesar "—Lucan,  for  "Caesar  brought  to  a  halt"). 
The  liveliness  of  representation  and  of  feeling  which 
comes  out  of  such  Greek  constructions  as  <p6oi/oG^at 
(cf.  <p^ove7v  Tti/t  and  oinoTiixifSToci  mv  xipaXr.y)  or  again  in 
the  preference  shown  in  Greek  for  the  Active  as 
against  the  Passive  (^.^.,  |3a/i/ou(r*i/  =  t^ur)  is  quite  alien 
to  the  Latin  spirit. 

27.  The  sound  judgment  of  the  Romans  enabled 
them  to  discriminate  ideas  with  exactitude,  and  fur- 
thered lucidity  alike  in  description  and  in  language. 
Needless  to  say,  this  observation  does  not  apply  to 
the  language  of  the  ordinary  man,  who  is  habitually 
careless  in  his  utterances,  but  it  does  apply  to  classic 
prose  with  its  studied  perfection,  which  in  these 
points  may  challenge  comparison  with  the  style  of 
the  best  Greek  and  German  writers.  The  educated 
Roman  is  scrupulously  careful  in  the  tenses  which 
he  employs:  *'  I  will  come  if  I  can  "  is  expressed  by 
"  Veniam  si  potero"  [as  in  French  and  other  Romance 
languages  at  the  present  day,  **je  viendrai  si  je 
pourrai"]  **  As  thou  sowest,  so  shalt  thou  reap,"  "  ut 
sementem  feceris,  ita  metes";  "as  often  as  he  fell 
he  got  up,"  "  cum  ceciderat  surgebat."  Moreover,  in 
the  Latin  use  of  degrees  of  comparison  and  of  num- 
bers, we  shall  find  that  classic  usage  is  more  exact 
than  ours.  We  often  hear  "  which  of  you  two  is  the 
eldest?"  but  in  Latin  the  rendering  of  this  is  "  uter 
vestrum  maior  natu  est  ?  "  "  Hither  Gaul  "  is  "  Gallia 
Citerior,"  so  "  pestilentia  minacior  quam  perniciosior," 
a  plague  more  alarming  than  destructive.  The 
Plural  in  Latin  takes  the  place  of  the  Singular  in 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


51 


cases  where  the  idea  of  plurality  is  with  us  denoted 
but  not  expressed,  as  /tg'na  =  wood,  nzves  =  a  snow- 
storm, or  drift;  "  pedibus  ire"  =  to  go  on  foot; 
"  adulatoribus  aures  praebere"  =  to  lend  one's  ear 
to  flattery.  Delicate  distinctions  may  be  noticed  in 
the  syntax  of  mood  and  case.  Latin  is  the  first  to 
teach  us  that  we  cannot,  strictly  speaking,  give 
such  a  command  as  "  Be  ashamed  of  yourself,"  or 
''Be  happy!"  but  "  te  pudeat!"  ^'sis  felix!"  and  we 
often  find  that  a  distinction  is  drawn  between  anim- 
ate and  inanimate  objects,  and  between  proper  and 
transferred  signification  in  the  construction  of  words; 
we  know  that  in  the  former  case  prepositions,  such 
2L^per,ctim,  ab,  etc.,  are  employed,  but  in  the  latter 
alternative  the  mere  case  is  used.^ 

Again,  the  Romans  are  able  to  employ  their  case 
system  in  connection  with  their  present  participle  so 
as  to  discriminate  between  a  lasting  characteristic 
and  a  transitory  action  or  feeling:  cf  "patriae 
amans,"  "patriam  amans."  We  note,  too,  that  the 
neuter  form  of  the  pronoun  is  preserved  in  the 
nominative  and  accusative  cases  (**studium  aliquid 
legendi "),  while  in  the  oblique  cases  the  word  res 
is  added  ("  studium  alicuius  rei  "),  because  in  this 
instance  obscurity  might  result  if  the  bare  pronoun 
were  used,  which  might  possibly  be  taken  to  refer  to 
another  case.  The  Romans  avoid  placing  two  nouns 
in  the  same  case  in  juxtaposition,  as  this  arrange- 
ment might  lead  to  misunderstanding,  and  in  any 

*  Eg.,  "fastiditur  ab  illis,"  but  "  versatur  aratro";  and  things 
are  personified  by  the  use  of  ab,  as  "  animus  bene  informatus  a 

Natura." 


52   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

case  is  inharmonious;  thus  we  get ''  bos  cervi  figura," 
not  ** figurae  "— " laudatos  fore,"  not  *' futuros  esse" 
—"ad  imitandum  propositus,''  not  "  imitandus" : 
hence,  again,  we  find  that  forms  such  as  "  inter- 
fectus  existimatus  es,"  for  "  you  were  thought  dead'' 
are  not  used  in  Latin :  nor  can  two  prepositions  be 
placed  in  immediate  juxtaposition  as,  for  instance, 
''de  cum  Persis  gestis  beUis,"  where  the  German 
laneuaee  allows  *' uber  mit   den   Persern  gefuhrte 

Kn 
riege. 

28.  The  Latin  method  of  employing  the  ablative 
betokens  a  clear  and  intelligent  apprehension  of  cir- 
cumstances as  they  are.    The  German  (and  English- 
man) hardly  penetrates  in  thought  beneath  the  mere 
surface,  and  records  merely  the  superficial  impres- 
sions made  by  the  outer  world  on  his  consciousness. 
The  scrutinizing  eye  of  the   Roman  sees  deeper. 
For  him  it  seems  essential  to  fathom  the  true  con- 
nection of  ideas:  and  hence,  he  in  many  cases  ex- 
presses the  relation  of  causality,  where  we  deem  it 
sufficient  to  express  merely  the  relation  of  place. 
For  instance,  we  say  **  to  lean  upon  something": 
the  Romans  said  **  aliqua  re  niti " :  and  more  com- 
monly again,  the  Latin  ablative  of  the  instrument 
represents  in  English  merely  the  relations  of  place: 
e,g,,  where  we  say  to  receive  some  one  in  a  town, 
the  Romans  said  ''  recipere  aliquem  oppido  " :  to  con- 
ceal  oneself  in  a  wood,   **  se  occultare  silva":    to 
maintain  oneself  in  the  camp,  *'se  castris  tenere": 
to  be  conquered  in  battle,  ''  praelio  vinci  "  :  to  march 
in  a  square,  '*  quadrato  agmine  proficisci":  to  swim 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


53 


in  blood,  *'  redundare  sanguine  ":  to  carry  in  a  litter, 
**  lectica  ferre  " :  to  hold  in  one's  hand,  **  manu  tenere": 
to  bathe  in  cold  water,  **  frigida  (aqua)  lavari " :  to 
go  so  far  in  recklessness,  **  tantum  audacia  progredi": 
to  be  initiated  into  a  ritual,  ''  initiari  sacris  " :  to  keep 
in  memory,  **  memoria  tenere " :  to  confuse  oneself 
in  error,  ''  erroribus  implicari " :  views  expressed  in 
admirable  language,  *'  sententiae  optimis  verbis  ex- 
pressae " :  to  seek  safety  in  flight,  **  fuga  salutem 
quaerere  " :  to  surpass  any  one  in  speed,  '*  celeritate 
alicui  praestare " :  to  lead  any  one  by  the  hand, 
"manu  ducere  aliquem":  to  tremble  in  every  limb, 
'*  omnibus  artibus  contremiscere  " :  to  accustom  any 
one  to  cold,  or  to  accustom  oneself  to  cold,  ''  aliquem 
frigore  assuefacere,"  or  "  frigori  assuefacere " :  to 
abound  in,  **abundare  aliqua  re":  to  travel  by  car- 
riage, on  shipboard,  etc.,  "curru,  navi  vehi " :  to  trans- 
port corn  up  a  river,  "  frumentum  flumine  subvehere  " : 
to  carry  on  one's  shoulders,  **  sustinere  humeris " : 
to  transport  across  in  boats,  *'ratibus  traicere":  to 
travel  on  the  Appian  way,  **  Appia  via  proficisci": 
to  go  on  foot,  ''pedibus  proficisci":  by  sea  and 
land,  "  terra  marique  " :  to  serve  in  the  cavalry,  **  equo 
merere":  to  challenge  any  one  to  combat,  '*  praelio 
lacessere  aliquem":  to  condemn  any  one  to  death, 
**  aliquem  capite  damnare":  to  condemn  to  a  fine  of 
ten  talents,  ''  decem  talentis  damnare  "  :  to  transport 
troops  over  the  Rhine  to  Gaul,  '*  copias  Rheno  in 
Galliam  traducere":  to  enter  Rome  by  the  Porta 
Capena,  "  porta  Capena  Romam  intrare  " :  to  live  on 
meat,  "carne  vivere"  or  '*carne  vesci":  to  drop 
blood,  *'  sanguine  manare." 


54      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Such  examples  might  be  multiplied  almost  in- 
definitely, but  those  mentioned  may  suffice  to  show- 
that  our  way  of  expression  betrays  a  more  super- 
ficial view  than  that  of  the  Romans,  for  we  record 
merely  the  impression  made  on  our  senses:  while 
the  Roman  with  profounder  reflection  apprehends 
logical  relations  more  critically  and  exactly. 

29.  It  is  the  same  principle  which  inspires  the 
Romans  to  balance  their  sentences  by  a  twofold 
division.  Lessing  s  style  may  serve  as  an  example 
of  how  far  intelligibility,  perspicuity,  and  easy  appre- 
hension are  aided  by  this  method.  [The  beginning 
of  Macaulay's  Essay  on  Byron  is  a  good  instance  of 
how  a  series  of  antitheses  produces  an  effect  of  per- 
fect lucidity.  Mr.  Swinburne's  prose  style,  which, 
though  often  subtly  allusive,  is  never  obscure,  owes 
much  of  its  perspicuity  to  combinations  of  antitheses,] 
Lessing,  more  than  any  other  German  author,  has 
adopted  this  method  for  the  formation  of  his  sen- 
tences, and  it  is  to  this  that  we  owe  the  lucidity  of 
style  which  is  his  peculiar  claim  to  admiration.  In 
the  periods  of  Latin  writers— whether  prose-writers 
or  poets — we  constantly  meet  with  antitheses  and 
parallel  clauses.  Indeed,  these  may  be  looked  on  as 
the  main  pivots  on  which  the  construction  of  Latin 
sentences  turns.  The  fondness  for  the  corresponding 
conjunctions  et  .  ,  ,  el,  aut .  .  .  aut,  non  solum  ,  ,  ,  sed 
etiam,  etc.,  and  of  the  correlatives  quot . .  .  tot,  quanttis 
. . .  tantus,  ita...  ut,  ctim  .  .  .  ttmi,  is  based  on  the  same 
principle.  Indeed,  this  same  antithetical  principle 
manifests  itself  not  infrequently  when  the  second 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


55 


notion  alone  presents  itself  to  the  sense,  as  in  "  dex- 
ter" (the  ter  being  in  fact  a  comparative  termina- 
tion equivalent  to  the  Greek  -rtpo?) :  and  similarly  in 
Germania  inferior.  The  reflection  of  a  single  thought 
in  two  words  closely  akin,  yet  unconnected  by  a 
copula,  as  velitis  iubeatis,  optimus  maximus,  purus 
putus,  semel  saepius,  voce  vultti,  etc.,  dates  from  very 
ancient  literary  times  (cf.  S.  Preuss  "  De  bimembris 
dissoluti  apud  Scriptores  Romanos  usu  soUemni," 
Edenkoben,  1881),  and  the  figure  known  as  hendia- 
dys  developed  itself  gradually,  and  became  of  fre- 
quent occurrence. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  may  be  gathered  that 
the  most  weighty  law  in  Roman  style  is  logical  con- 
secution and  discrimination.    Thus  O.  Willman  is 
correct  in  assuming  an  inherent  Logic  as  the  main 
characteristic  of  the  Latin  language  and  grammar. 
Intelligence  dictates  the  words,  beauty  of  form  is 
merely  a  secondary  consideration,  or  indeed  of  no 
account  at  all;  style  is  treated  with  cruel  neglect. 
In    Greece,   on    the  other  hand,  the  demands  for 
harmony  in  the   construction  of  sentences  play  an 
important  part.    The  language  of  the  Hellenes  holds 
a  happy  medium  between  the  intuitive  naturalism  of 
the  simple  populace  and  the  severely  intellectual 
methods  of  cool-thinking  savants.    Good   humour 
and  understanding,  an  easy  carelessness  displayed 
in  graceful  forms,  and  strict,  consecutive  accuracy 
in  thought,  show  their  effects  side  by  side,  produce 
variety  and  manysidedness  of  expression,  and  stamp 
their  unique  beauty  on  the  linguistic  representation 
of  Greek  thought.    Attraction,  formation  by  analogy, 


S6       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

and  other  psychological  processes,  which  meet  us  so 
often  in  Greek  authors,  poets  and  prose- writers  alike, 
do  not  appear  in  anything  like  so  large  a  proportion 
among  Roman  writers.  For  "  such  a  lively  move- 
ment of  thought  as  is  presented  us  in  the  syntactic 
assimilation,  assumes  a  great  wealth  of  grammatical 
forms  and  a  lively  popular  imagination ;  and  this  is 
precisely  what  we  find  among  the  Greeks.  Where 
the  main  purpose  is  to  express  meaning,  as  with  the 
Romans ;  where  the  process  of  thought  is  ever  more 
abstract  and  sharply  defined,  and  maintains  a  scien- 
tific precision,  or,  in  other  words,  a  logical  form,  as 
in  the  case  of  German  and  still  more  in  French; 
where  the  exactitude  of  word  formation  passed  away, 
as  with  all  modern  nations;  in  all  such  cases,  these 
syntactical  processes  tend  more  and  more  to  dis- 
appear and  the  language  flows  on  confined  in  the 
iron  rut  of  forms  more  or  less  immovable." 


30.  We  have  still  to  glance  at  the  inflexional 
system  of  the  Latin  language. 

Latin,  in  its  word-inflexion,  lacks  the  richness, 
flexibility,  and  rhythmical  movement  of  the  Greek. 
The  more  sensitive  Greek  has  retained  far  more  of 
the  primitive  store  of  forms  of  the  Indo-Germanic 
original  language  than  the  more  practically-minded 
Roman.  The  latter,  disinclined  to  luxury  of  any 
kind,  even  to  superfluities  in  language,  dispensed 
with  all  he  could,  and  used  what  he  did  retain  with 
the  greatest  economy.  This  can  be  readily  seen  in 
the  conjugations,  in  which  the  Roman  has  fused  the 
optative  with  the  conjunctive,  and  the  aorist  with 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


57 


the  perfect  [cf  sim  =  si-em  with  sUv  and  dix-i  with 
i-^n^'x].  In  Latin,  again,  the  number  of  the  par- 
ticiples is  greatly  reduced,  and  we  look  in  vain  for 
the  store  of  Greek  tense  forms.  Consider  the  wealth 
of  forms  evidenced  by  a  word  like  rptTrw  with  its  six 
aorists  as  against  the  Latin  /e£-o\  The  gradations 
and  mutations  of  the  stem  have  almost  disappeared; 
the  differentiation  of  verbs  in  -^i  and  -w,  as  of 
thematic  and  non-thematic  verbs,  is  laid  aside:  nay, 
even  the  augment  as  the  mark  of  differentiation  be- 
tween primary  and  historic  tenses  is  not  maintained. 
Even  reduplication  and  Ablaut  appear  only  in  scanty 
survivals.  This  was  not  always  so :  the  old  speakers 
of  the  Latin  tongue  had  obviously  much  more  sense 
of  the  picturesque,  like  all  primitive  people.  Also 
the  Oscan  and  Umbrian  dialects  exhibit  a  stately 
series  of  verb  and  noun  forms,  whose  Latin  equiva- 
lents show  no  trace  of  reduplication  \e,g.,  mamers, 
dededy  fefure,  fefaced^ . 

With  the  sole  exception  of  the  few  so-called  neu- 
tral-passives [e.g.ygaudeoyjido,  soleo]  the  Latin  verbs 
have  lost  their  faculty  of  forming  their  tenses  as 
either  active  or  middle:  juaySai/w,  ^afiijo-ojuai  has  no 
analogue  in  classical  Latin.  In  other  respects  Latin 
lacks  flexibility:  its  elements  are  congealed  and  re- 
ceive once  for  all  the  lasting  stamp  they  are  to  bear. 
Classical  Latin  was  averse  to  the  creation  of  com- 
pounds :  yet  when  such  were  once  created,  the  uni- 
fication of  the  component  parts  of  the  compound  was 
so  strictly  maintained,  and  the  interpenetration  of 
the  two  members  was  felt  to  be  so  complete,  that  all 
thought  of  separation  was  excluded.    The  independ- 


58       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ence  of  the  parts  disappears,  as  often  as  ever  the 
composition  is  realized."^  Such  phenomena  as  the 
Greek  Tmesis  meet  us  only  occasionally,  and  prin- 
cipally in  the  poets  [And  what  Tmeses!  "Saxo  cere 
— comminuit — brum"  (Ennius)]t  to  suit  the  exi- 
gences of  metre.  The  freer  usage  of  prepositions 
with  which  we  are  familiar  in  German  [and  in  a 
less  degree  in  English]  is  unknown  to  the  Latin. 
For  instance,  in  the  German  words  vorsagen,  ein- 
sehetiy  etc.,  the  first  syllable  is  separable,  and  appears 
in  the  present  as  ''ich  sage  vor,"  "ich  sehe  ein" 
[sometimes  in  English  a  shade  of  meaning  is  con- 
veyed by  the  shifting  of  such  prepositions;  as  out- 
spoken, spoken  out:  the  outlook,  the  look  out,  etc.]. 
Moreover,  the  intrusion  of  the  reduplication  between 
the  preposition  and  stem  of  the  perfect  is  felt  to  be 
irregular,  and  is  commonly  omitted,  as  in  contigit  as 
against  tetigit. 


31.  Noun  forms  in  Latin  which  have  once  been 
petrified  into  adverbs,  retain  their  form  perennially, 
like  lava  which  has  hardened  into  immovable  rock. 
In  this  Latin  contrasts  with  German,  in  which  lan- 
guage conceptions  of  time,  place,  etc.,  can  be  imme- 
diately re-transformed,  by  means  of  flexional  termina- 
tions, into  living  and  declinable  nouns.  Take  such 
instances  as  "  die  einstigen  Gewohnheiten,"  *'  die 
damaligen  Verhaltnisse,"  **die  dortigen  Behorden," 

♦  Probably  the  coalescence  of  the  parts  is  least  felt  in  the  case 
of  the  composition  of  an  adverb  with  a  verb  as  circumdare,  satis- 
facere,  etc. 

t  Cf.  too  "  septem  subjecta  trioni,"  Verg. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


59 


"  das  jenseitige  Ufer."  We  may  again  contrast  this 
immovability  with  the  Greek  usage,  where  the  article 
when  prefixed  suffices  to  recall  the  adverb  again 

into    life,    as    in    ol   vZv    ai/6pw7ro*,    0   totb   pao-iAfu?,   n   aj/w 

ttoAk.  [It  is  probable  that  the  English  usage  of 
such  phrases  as  ''  the  then  king  "  came  straight  from 
the  classical  usage.] 

In  its  impersonal  verbs,  again,  Latin  presents 
some  peculiarities  which  distinguish  it  from  the 
other  cognate  languages  mentioned.  For  instance, 
it  possesses  a  certain  number  of  verbs  signifying 
feeling,  which  have  become  fixed  and  unchangeable 
in  impersonal  use:  compare  pudet  with  aiV^wvo/Aat 
and  with  **  I  am  ashamed"  [though  in  English  we 
can  still  say,  "  it  shames  me,  it  behoves,  it  irks,"  etc.]. 

We  must  also  mark  the  difference  in  the  treat- 
ment of  diminutives  in  Greek  and  in  Latin.  Greek 
and  German  have  the  power  of  transforming  diminu- 
tives, by  changing  the  gender,  into  new  significa- 
tions, e.g.,  "der  Mann,"  *'das  Mannchen,"  *' das 
Mannlein,"  '^dieFrau,"  "  das  Frauchen,"  "dasFrau- 
lein":  wxTg,  Troa^lou:  xpuo-o?,  XP'^^»'°>'-  These  diminutives 
have  more  or  less  divested  themselves  of  their 
nature,  and  their  diminished  vitality  is  shown  in 
the  neuter  gender.  Latin,  on  the  contrary,  exhibits 
neither  the  same  freedom  in  its  treatment  of  gender, 
nor  the  same  delicacy  of  discrimination,  for  it  passes 
on  the  gender  of  the  original  noun  to  its  derivative 
diminutive,  as  /tier,  libelbis\  silva,  silvtda. 

32.  Finally,  we  must  briefly  examine  the  vowel 
conditions  of  Latin.    W.  von  Humboldt  long  since 


I 


6o      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

insisted  on  the  fact  that  the  vowel  system  in  any 
language  must  stand  in  close  relationship  to  the 
trend  of  the  national  taste  of  those  who  speak  it, 
reflecting,  as  it  does,  the  mental  power  of  the  human 
organism  in  its  entirety.*  This  principle  comes  out 
very  clearly  in  a  comparison  of  the  modern  North 
and  South  European  languages.  In  the  German 
and,  more  particularly,  in  the  Slavic  sound-system, 
the  consonants  play  a  much  more  prominent  part 
than  in  the  Romance  languages,  which,  however,  are 
distinguished  by  greater  variety  in  their  vowel 
sounds.  Thanks  to  this  cause,  Italian,  for  instance, 
is  endowed  with  its  incomparable  grace  and  delicacy 
(cf.  Byron,  **  Beppo,"  44).  The  language  viewed  as 
the  artistic  creation  of  an  entire  people  reflects 
the  fact  that  the  Italians  possess  a  remarkable  sense 
of  form,  a  sense  which  stands  adequately  revealed 
in  other  directions,  such  as  the  fine  arts,  painting 
and  music,  poetry  and  architecture. 

No  one  can  deny  that  the  northern  nations  stand 
in  this  respect  far  behind  their  southern  neigh- 
bours. 

Latin  holds  a  middle  position  between  the  rich 
vowel  system  and  liquid  sweetness  of  the  Italian, 
and  the  consonantal  agglomerations  of  the  Russian 
language.  In  its  position  with  regard  to  these  it 
resembles  rather  the  German  written  language  than 
the  Greek,  and  indeed  it  shares  with  German  certain 
peculiarities  in  its  sound-changes.  Friedrich  August 
Wolf  said  long  since:  **  The  Latin  language  is  far 

*  See  Byrne,  "  Principles  and  Structure  of  Language  "  vol.  i, 
p.  12. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


61 


from  possessing  the  harmony  of  the  Greek.    It  is 
military,  stern,  and  stately.   Its  numerous  consonants, 
and  the  paucity  of  its  vowels,  give  it  a  hard  repel- 
lent  look,    and    are    indeed    characteristic   of  the 
nation";    and    Fr.    Scerbo    gives    as    his   opinion 
{''  Caratteristiche  del  Greco  e  del  Latino,"  Firenze, 
1893,  P-   0*  **  II  vocalismo  greco  e  piu  ricco,  piii 
delicato  e  vario,  ritraente  piu  la  freschezza  e  lagilita 
dei   suoni  primitivi;   il   vocalismo  latino  ci  appare 
meno  armonioso  e  snello  od  integro  ed  un  po  piu 
incerto."     Lastly,  W.  von  Humboldt  gives  as  his 
opinion  ('*  Uber  die  Verschiedenheit  des  mensch- 
lichen  Sprachbaus,  herausgegeben  v.  Pott,"  ii,  232, 
Berlin,  1876)  that  '*  in  the  language  of  the  Romans 
no  luxuriant  variety,  no  freedom  of  imagination,  has 
been  wasted  in  the  formation  of  sounds;  the  virile, 
earnest  sense  of  that  people  which  regarded  rather 
the  truth  of  things  as  they  are,  and  craved  only  so 
much  of  thingfs  intellectual  as  consorted  with  such 
truth,  had  no  room  for  any  such  luxuriance  or  any 
such  free  upgrowth  of  sounds."    Just  as  the  Greeks 
were  the  masters  of  the  Romans  in  sculpture,  archi- 
tecture, painting,  and  music,  in  short,  in  all  arts,  so 
they  display  in  their  language,  full  as  it  is  of  the 
magic  of  their   harmony,  more  feeling  for  formal 
beauty,  and  for  pleasing  and  melodious  tone  effects. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  Greeks  possess  such  a  strong 
taste    for    assonance    and   the   correspondence   of 
vowel  sounds,  while  the  ear  and  heart  of  the  Romans 
were  far  more  open  to  impressions  from  consonantal 
alliteration.    This  alliteration  gives  the  verse  a  char- 
acteristic ring  of  its  own,  rather  than  a  melody;  it 


62       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

renders  it  not  indeed  more  graceful,  but  stronger 
and  more  forceful.*  The  Romans,  like  our  own 
ancestors,  ranked  character  above  beauty,  essence 
above  form.  Old  Roman  versification — the  Sa- 
turnian,  for  example — was  full  of  alliteration,!  and 
there  are  many  old  formulas,  depending  on  this  trick 
of  language,  which  have  maintained  themselves 
through  all  the  life  of  the  Latin  tongue;  such  as 
"purus  putus,"  **sane  sarteque "  J  ["  locutio  ex 
auguralibus  sumpta  "].  Such  go  to  confirm  the  idea 
that  the  Romans  regarded  alliteration  as  an  ancient 
national  trait  of  the  technique  of  their  poetry;  and 
thus  it  is  that  Vergil  in  his  '*  yEneid,"  that  sustained 
eulogium  of  the  national  virtues  of  the  Romans,  has 
employed  it  to  so  large  an  extent. 

33.  We  have  exhausted  our  remarks  on  this  sub- 
ject. We  trust  that  it  has  been  made  plain  that 
Latin  contrasts  with  Greek  in  many  essential  points, 
and  that  this  contrast  depends  for  the  most  part  on 
the  difference  in  the  national  character  of  the  two 
races.  As  they  differ  in  thought  and  in  action,  so 
do  they  markedly  differ  in  diction  and  in  style.  If 
it  were  necessary  to  cite  in  support  of  our  conten- 

*  It  is  well  known  that  the  most  salient  feature  in  Anglo-Saxon 
literature  was  its  regular  alliteration,  and  this  holds  good  generally 
of  the  old  Northern  or  Icelandic.  Cf.  Marsh,  "Student's  English 
Literature,"  p.  389  sqq.,  who  gives  many  instances  of  its  use  by 
modern  English  poets.  It  may  be  worth  noticing  that  Milton  and 
the  Classic  School  of  poets  generally  avoid  alliteration  altogether; 
cf.  "Alliterative  Poems,"  Morris  and  Skeat,  Part  II,  xiii. 

t  E.g.^  "  eorum  sectam  sequontur  multi  mortales  "  (Naevius). 

X  Cf.  our  kith  and  kin,  health  and  happiness,  etc. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


63 


tion  that  where  the  contrary  cause  holds  good  the 
contrary  effect  follows,  we  might  easily  show  that 
peoples  which  share  many  prominent  traits  of  char- 
acter, manifest  also  a  great  resemblance  in  their 
speech.  We  might  cite  as  an  instance  of  this  the 
intellectual  relationship  between  the  Spartans  and 
the  Romans.  Of  all  the  Grecian  stock,  none  was  in 
this  respect  so  nearly  related  to  the  Romans  as  the 
Spartans.  Both  nations  were  alike  adepts  at  manual 
labour,  and  proud  of  their  powers.  Both  were  strict 
disciplinarians;  both  were  weak  in  cavalry,  and  both 
alike  had  an  aversion  to  a  sea-faring  life.  On  the 
other  hand,  both  had  a  genius  for  jurisprudence  and 
political  activity ;  in  both  we  find  two  characteristics 
strongly  brought  out — great  reverence  for  old  age, 
and  the  lofty  position  assigned  to  woman.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  artistic  capability  and  in  scientific 
attainments,  both  nations  alike  stand  behind  the 
other  Greek  races.  We  find,  accordingly,  in  the 
languages  of  the  two  nations  a  number  of  similar 
traits :  a  lack  of  flexibility  in  the  formation  of  com- 
pounds, a  poverty  of  words,  a  stiff  and  formal 
rhythm,  a  logical  acuteness,  an  endeavour  after 
pregnancy  of  utterance  (Cic.  Ad  Fam.  ii,  25,  2),  a 
taste  for  brief  and  neat  witticisms  (O.  Muller, 
*'  Dorians,"  ii,  385  sqq),  especially  for  puns,  a  taste 
which  comes  from  a  fortunate  trait  of  whimsical 
humour  common  to  both:  we  also  find  in  both  less 
mobility  in  their  vowel  sounds,  and  a  greater  ad- 
herence to  the  old  traditional  form  of  the  termina- 
tions of  verbs. 

The  traits  and  features  of  the  language  on  which 


64    LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC. 

we  have  touched  are,  in  themselves  no  doubt,  unim- 
portant enough,  but  "  straws  show  how  the  wind 
blows."  Just  as  we  are  enabled  to  understand  the 
real  character  of  a  man  through  the  trifling  in- 
cidents of  daily  life,  so  the  tiny  stones  that  we  have 
set  together  form,  in  their  entirety,  a  faithful  mosaic 
of  old  Roman  action  and  deeds,  poetry  and  thought. 
They  thus  permit  us  to  appreciate  more  than  super- 
ficially the  salient  traits  of  the  Roman  character; 
and,  what  is  more,  they  enable  us  to  take  an  intelli- 
gent view  of  the  monuments  of  Roman  art  and  of 
outstanding  events  in  Roman  history.  Rlickert  then 
is  right  when  he  says  ''  the  science  of  language  is 
the  subject  which  of  all  the  circle  of  the  Sciences 
affords  us  the  most  satisfactory  revelations  about 
human  thought  and  methods  of  apprehension.'' 


it 

I 


II 

ROMAN  STYLE  AND  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ROMAN 

CULTURE 

34 
T    ANGUAGE  is  the  most  faithful  companion  of 
-■— '  man  on  his  earthly  pilgrimage.    The  impres- 
sions of  his  journey  stamp  ineffaceable  marks  in  the 
shape  of  language,  like  the  annual  rings  in  trees, 
and    thus   these   recorded    impressions  indicate  to 
future  generations  many  facts  in  their  past  history.* 
How  their  ancestors  lived  and  suffered,  what  they 
thought  and  what  they  felt,  their  aims  and  ambitions, 
all  this  is  revealed  by  language  in  eloquent  accents 
to  those  who  can  understand.    Thus  it  is  that  in 
language  we  have  a  real  history,  and  more  especially 
a  history  of  civilization  or  of  culture.    The  views  and 
prejudices  of  his  time  are  apt  to  fasten  indelibly  on 
each  individual.     It  falls  to  none  but  to  a  few  privi- 
leged souls  to   free   themselves  more  or  less  per- 
fectly from  such  prejudices.    But  even  this  chosen 
few,  whose  names  are  written  in  gold  on  the  pages 
of  history,  cannot  fully  escape  the  influence  of  the 

*  Cf.  Geiger,  "  Language  and  its  importance  in  the  History  of 

the  Development  of  the  Human  Race,"  Triibner,  1880;  but  more 

especially  Marsh,  "Student's  English  Language,"  pp.  155  s^^.    On 

/the  influence  of  words  on  thought  see  Max  Miiller,  "  Lectures  on 

the  Science  of  Language,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  622  s^^. 

F 


66       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

moral  outlook  of  their  age.  The  mental  products 
even  of  such  giants  as  these  bear,  to  some  degree  at 
least,  the  markof  their  epoch.  They  think  they  are  the 
propelling  force,  but  they  are  in  fact  propelled  them- 
selves :  they  would  fain  strike  out  a  new  path  for  the 
moral  course  of  their  age  to  pursue:  but  they  are 
forced  to  run  on  confined  in  the  old  rut  of  the  spirit 
of  their  time.  Use  and  wont  is  a  tyrant,  whether  in 
things  intellectual  or  things  material.  Just  as  the 
architecture  of  any  given  age  reflects  the  concep- 
tions of  the  generation  of  its  builders,  so  the  style 
of  different  authors  sharply  and  clearly  exhibits  the 
traits  of  contemporary  thought.  It  is  no  uninterest- 
ing task  to  follow  the  reciprocal  relations  between 
style  and  moral  outlook  by  watching  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Latin  language  for  several  centuries. 

35.  QuintiliansaysofEnnius:  ''Enniumsicutsacros 
vetustate  lucos  adoremus,  in  quibus  grandia  et  an- 
tiqua  robora  jamnontantam  habent  speciem,quantam 
relio^ionem."  His  remark  holds  true  of  all  the  more 
ancient  Roman  literature.  Indeed,  the  style  of  the 
old  Roman  writers  does  resemble  the  oak  in  its 
tough  exterior.  Simple,  downright,  and  straightfor- 
ward was  the  life  and  character  of  the  '*  prisci  Latini," 
and  their  expression  is  accordingly.  Affectation  and 
tricks  of  style  are  completely  absent  from  their  writ- 
ings, and  there  is  no  symptom  of  straining  after  effect. 
Whether  they  speak,  or  whether  they  write,  they  do 
either  with  a  definite  purpose,  and  they  have  little 
regard  to  form.  Of  all  the  maxims  given  by  the  old 
Cato,  the  genuine  pattern  of  a  genuine  Roman,  to 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


67 


his  son,  at  his  start  in  life,  perhaps  the  most  telling 
is  that  contained  in  the  well-known  saying:  -Rem 
tene,  verba  sequentur."  Those  words  of  blame  are 
indeed  unsparing  which  the  aged  Consul  Appius  ad- 
dressed to  the  Senators;  and  they  were  totally  un- 
fettered by  what  are  to-day  known  as  parliamentary 
conventions.  "Whither  has  your  sense,  so  sound 
and  firm  of  old,  senselessly  strayed  from  the  straight 
path?"  (Ennius  a^.  Cic.  De  Sen.  ix,  16).  Thus  it 
was  that  he  controlled  his  people,  a  king  among 
assembled  kings,  and  the  honourable  counsellor  gave 
way  to  the  words  of  the  most  honourable  speaker. 
Thus  was  it  that  he  celebrated  the  highest  triumph 
to  be  obtained  by  oratory,  an  oratory  energetic  and 
forceful,  yet  far  enough  removed  from  any  artificial 
claims  to  embellishment,  nor  indeed  was  there  any 
public  at  that  time  capable  of  welcoming  and  critic- 
izing any  such  claims. 

36.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  think  of  two  more 
wide  contrasts  than  those  which  we  witness  in  the 
early  stages  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature  respect- 
ively. The  oldest  Greek  work  is  the  Homeric  poems : 
the  oldest  Roman  work,  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables.  Differing  as  these  do  in  the  matter  which 
formed  the  object  of  instruction  of  the  youth  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  their  linguistic  contrast  is  not 
less  striking.  Liveliness  and  perspicuity  on  the  one 
hand  are  confronted  with  sobriety  on  the  other.  To 
take  another  point  of  contrast,  the  old  Roman  heroes 
make  dry  speeches:  the  words  of  the  old  Homeric 
heroes  run  glibly  from  their  mouths,  fresh  as  morn- 


68       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ing  dew.  It  is  not  without  reason  that  the  aged 
Nestor  is  described  as  a  Xiyv^  xyopnTYig,  a  clear-voiced 
orator:  not  without  reason  that  the  utterances  of  the 
Trojan  graybeards  are  likened  to  the  tuneful  song  of 
the  Cicada,  so  loved  by  antiquity  (II.  iii,  151).  Modu- 
lation and  emphasis  must  at  that  time  have  produced 
the  effect  afterwards  produced  by  the  artificial  struc- 
ture of  (rhythmical)  periods.  In  consonance  with 
this  we  find  in  Homer  the  speeches  introduced  by 
words  like  aJJ'ai/,  (pcaviTvy  (pUyyB(r6oci,  etc.,  which  fitly 
represent  the  full  sounding  melody  of  the  old  recita- 
tions: while  in  Latin  the  correlative  words  lo^uz, 
dicere,  fari,  have  no  such  delicate  connotation. 


37.  True  to  the  maxim  "  Naturalia  non  sunt  tur- 
pia,'*  the  simple  apprehension  of  primitive  Rome 
took  no  offence  at  what  was  natural.  **  To  the  pure 
all  things  are  pure,"  and  thus  Sisenna,  and  after  him 
Ennius  and  Plautus  [Livy,  Cicero,  etc.],  say  without 
any  misgiving,  **  concubia  nocte."  [Thus  again  veftter 
is  commonly  used  for  appetitel\  In  fact  the  practice 
was  to  adopt  the  Stoic  principle:  "  suo  quamque  rem 
nomine  appellare:  nihil  esse  obscoenum,  nihil  turpe 
dictu*'  (Cic.  AdFam.  ix,  22). 


38.  In  these  old  times  the  difference  between  the 
diction  of  poetry  and  prose  was  not  yet  very  marked. 
The  cadence  of  the  old  Arval  song  and  that  of  the 
**Carmina  Saliorum  "  consorted  well  with  the  slow 
and  measured  march  of  the  Saturnian  measure,  as 
did  that  of  the  trampling  paces  of  the  Roman  legions 
in  Naevius'  *'  Bellum   Punicum."    Alliteration  and 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


69 


word-repetition,  the  main  factors  in  poetical  tech- 
nique, were  not  unknown  to  prose.  Alliteration, 
which  pervades  both  the  Hymns  and  the  tables  of 
the  Laws,  lent  energy  and  strength  to  the  language, 
forcing  the  thews  and  sinews  of  its  structure  to  stand 
out  in  bold  relief,  especially  in  the  arrangement  of 
its  consonants. 

This  particular  device  is  a  very  old  Indo-Ger- 
manic  method  of  emphasizing  and  quickening  lan- 
guage, especially  in  compressed  style.  In  magic 
formulae  the  threefold  repetition  of  a  word  plays  a 
great  part,*  and  in  the  popular  songs  of  Germany  the 
refrain  is  a  regular  feature.  Thus  in  the  song  of  the 
Arval  brothers  every  sentence  is  pronounced  with  a 
like  number  of  words,  from  Ems,  Lases,  iuvate,  down 
to  the  concluding  word  triumpe. 

Ornamental  adjectives  are  conspicuously  lacking 
to  the  poetry  of  that  age.  The  writers  have  no  ap- 
prehension of  tenderer  feelings,  finer  thoughts,  or 
captivating  pictures.  The  structure  of  the  sentence 
is  forceful  and  compressed,  reminding  us  of  the 
Indian  Vedas;  but  it  is  clumsy  and  without  grace. 
The  Latin  Odyssey  of  Livius  Andronicus  is  com- 
pared by  Cicero  to  a  stiff  piece  of  wood-carving  by 
Daedalus ;  and  it  is  true  that  the  most  ancient  style 
of  Latin  poetry  contrasts  as  strongly  with  its  Greek 
model  as  an  awkward  wooden  statue  with  a  master- 
piece in  marble.  The  prose  of  Cato,  again,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century  b.c,  is  straightfor- 
ward and  simple,  lacking  grace  and  art.     We  find 

*  See  the  collection  of  Triads  by  Kuno  Meyer  in  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,  Todd  Lecture  Series,  vol.  xiii,  pp.  12  sqq. 


^o      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

pleasure  in  his  brief  but  pregnant  sentences:  they 
reflect  so  completely  the  character  of  the  man,  and 
indeed  of  the   Romans   generally;    and  they  were 
noticed  with  approval  by  Cicero  (De  Or.  ii,  12,  53) 
and  by  Sallust  (Fr.  i,  2)  for  their  **  magna  verborum 
gravitas  et  sententiarum."    No  one  could  have  writ- 
ten more  strongly,  no  one  more  energetically.    The 
structure  of  his  periods  and  of  his  rhythm  have  not 
gone  beyond  the  first  stages  of  literature.   The  sen- 
tences know  no  subordination :  they  are  set  paratac- 
tically.    The  language  of  feeling  and  sensibility  does 
not,  like  that  of  careful  and  reflective  intelligence, 
move  in  lengthy   periods,   artificially  divided  and 
balanced.   Each  several  expression  stands  apart  and 
is  complete  in  itself;  it  is  blunt  enough  to  serve  its 
purpose:  it  needs  no  rounding  off,  no  gradation  due 
to  the  orderly  arrangement  of  a  scrutinizing  intelli- 
gence. 

39.  The  expression  is  often  obscure  through  the 
frequent  change  of  subject.  Asyndeton,  too,  which 
meets  us  in  ancient  formulae  such  as  "velitis  jubeatis," 
"  patres  conscripti,"  etc.,  is  very  common  in  Cato.* 
In  Fragment  108  he  says :  '*  multa  me  dehortata  sunt 
hue  prodire:  anni,  aestas,  vox,  vires,  senectus";  Fr. 
I  o I :  "  exercitum  suum  pransum,  paratum,  cohortatum 
eduxit  foras  atque  instruxit."  One  may  compare  with 
this  utterance  passages  from  the  old  poets,  as,  for 
instance,  that  of  N^vius  [Bell.  Pun.  lib.iv,ii,  Muller]: 
"  The  Roman  goes  to  Malta— he  burns  the  whole 

*  We  find  asyndeton  mounting  to  climax  in  later  writers,  e.g., 
Pliny,  Ep.  9,  22,  "in  litteris  veteres  aemulatur  exprimit  reddit." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


71 


island,  the  coast — ravages,  lays  waste,  plunders — foes, 
property."  He  has  recourse  to  the  "  Figura  ety- 
mologica/' ^.^.  Fr.  105  :  *'cognobilioremcognitionem," 
and  Orat.,  p.  73,  10:  *' vecticulariam  vitam  vivere" 
[to  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  lit.,  to  live  the  life  of 
one  who  uses  a  vectisy  a  robber  s  instrument].*  Then 
certain  turns  in  his  sentences  recur  frequently,  remind- 
ing us  of  the  '*  versus  iterati "  of  the  Homeric  Epos: 
e,g,y  he  uses  the  three  adjectives  magnus.ptilcher,  and 
pisculentus  in  speaking  of  the  Ebro  (Fr.  no)  and 
also  of  the  Nar  (Fr.  97).  At  the  same  time  he  has  no 
objection  to  massingiwords  on  words  in  order  to  obtain 
a  particular  effect:  e.g,,  in  Fr.  95a,  a  sentence  of  his 
*'  Oratio  Rhodiensis  "  is  reported,  in  which  he  brings 
out  several  conceptions  in  this  way.  **  Scio  solere 
plerisque  hominibus  rebus  secundis  atque  prolixis 
atque  prosperis  animum  excellere  atque  superbiam 
atque  ferociam  augescere  atque  crescere." 

This  peculiarity  was  noticed  even  by  A.  Gellius 
(Noct.  Att.  xiii,  25,  13).  The  passage  cited  shows 
also  the  predilection  of  the  author  for  the  emphatic 
word  atque  [  =  and  what  is  more],  and  it  is  Cato's 
way  to  employ  such  emphatic  particles  {e.g.,  verum, 
eniniy  vero). 

Further,  he  is  at  pains  to  interlard  his  diction  with 
such  archaic  words  as  tuburchinabundus,  *'  greedily 
swallowing,"  and  lurchinabundus,  "  devouring "  (cf. 
Ouintilian,  i,  6,  42).     Fronto  calls  these  expressions 

*  Asyndeton  was  common  in  later  writers  in  animated  narra- 
tion of  events  happening  contemporaneously,  as  Liv.  3,  37,  7, 
"hi  ferre  agere  plebem,"  "These  worried  and  harassed  the  com- 


mons. 


)> 


72       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

**  iligneae  nuces  " ;  they  invest  Cato's  style  with  a 
primitive  and  archaic  air.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  as 
he  so  ostentatiously  avoids  any  attempt  to  copy 
Greek  rhetoric  by  any  graces  of  style,  that  Cicero 
calls  his  speeches  horridulae  (Orat.  45,  152). 

40.  From  what  has  been  said  we  may  gather  that 
Cato  did  not  seek  to  impress  either  his  readers  or 
his  hearers  with  rhetorical  embellishments  or  ortho- 
dox methods  of  emphasizing  his  statements,  but 
relied  on  the  force  and  vigour  of  their  contents.* 

He  wrote  on  agriculture  and  the  right  conduct  of 
life,  and  sketched  the  outline  of  speeches  made  by 
himself,  thereby  responding  to  the  needs  and  re- 
quirements of  his  time.  And  his  Latinity  was  in 
the  main  the  Latinity  of  his  contemporaries :  it  was 
the  lapidary  style  of  the  old  inscriptions,  unadorned 
by  art  and  plain  to  a  degree,  but  full  of  energy  and 
of  old-world  strength.  **  A  good  man,  my  son  Mar- 
cus, can  command  his  speech"  (*' vir  bonus  dicendi 
peritus";  cf  Quintilian,  xii,  1,1)  were  the  words  of 
Cato  to  his  son.  He  meant  that  a  Roman  had  no 
need  of  Greek  rhetoric  to  speak  well. 

41.  For  Greek  rhetoric  had  at  that  time  taken 
deep  root  in  Rome,  and  had  fallen  upon  no  unfertile 
soil.    Indeed,  the  influence  of  the  Greek  spirit  had 

*  See  Macrob.  Sat.  i,  Praef.  for  Cato's  scomma  against  Albinus. 
*'  Ne  tu,  inquit,  Aule,  nimium  nugator  es,  cum  maluisti  culpam 
deprecari,  quam  culpa  vacare.  Nam  petere  veniam  solemus  aut 
cum  imprudentes  erravimus,  aut  cum  noxam  imperio  compellentes 
admisimus.  Te,  inquit,  oro,  quis  perpulit  ut  id  committeres,  quod 
priusquam  faceres,  peteres  uti  ignosceretur?" 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


n 


shown  itself  increasingly  strong  since  the  time  of 
Livius  Andronicus,  that  is  to  say  since  the  Tarentine 
war;  for  it  was  in  the  agony  of  this  war  that  Roman 
literature  entered  on  its  life.  Pliny  the  Elder  said 
several  centuries  later:  ''  Ingeniorum  Graeciae  flatu 
impellimur,"  and  this  saying  had  been  already  veri- 
fied. The  contact  of  the  Romans  with  the  Greek 
colonial  settlements  of  Lower  Italy,  brought  about 
long  before  by  commerce,  entered  now,  thanks  to 
this  war,  on  a  new  stage  of  closer  intercourse.  The 
movement  which  began  in  the  Tarentine  war  con- 
tinued in  the  Punic  war.  ''  Bello  Punico  secundo 
Musa  pinnato  gradu  Intulit  se  bellicosam  in  Romuli 
gentem  feram"  (Porcinus  Licinus  apudQ^.,  Noct. 
Att.  xvii,  21).  And  hence  we  find  Ennius  in  the 
beginning  of  his  annals  invoking  the  Greek  Muses, 
and  not  the  native  Latin  Camenae,  to  inspire  his 
song.  The  symptoms  of  the  influence  of  this  Hel- 
lenic culture  were  notably  manifested  in  all  the 
departments  of  life,  in  art  and  in  science,  in  trade 
and  in  commerce :  and  they  were  not  slow  to  mani- 
fest themselves  likewise  in  literature.  For  the  liter- 
ature of  Rome  was — as  is  commonly  the  case  in  the 
early  development  of  letters — exposed  to  great  varia- 
tions not  merely  in  its  scheme  of  sounds  and  flexions, 
but  in  that  of  its  periods  as  well;  and  if  it  be  true 
that  the  idiom  of  the  Capital  had  for  many  centuries 
differed  from  that  of  the  adjacent  communes — as,  for 
instance,  from  that  of  Praeneste — still  the  language 
in  any  case  needed  a  ripening  and  a  confirming 
process.  A  simple  example  may  serve  to  show  our 
meaning.    When  Ennius  in  his  **  Annals''  cites  the 


74   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

names  of  Rome's  twelve  supreme  deities  in  the  two 
Hexameters: 

Juno,  Vesta,  Minerva,  Ceres,  Diana,  Venus,  Mars, 
Mercurius,  Jovi(s),  Neptunus,  Vulcanus,  Apollo, 

we  can  gather  from  the  varying  rhythmical  power 
allotted  to  the  final  s,  the  doubtful  pronunciation  of 
the  sibilant  in  his  day.  In  the  rest  of  the  words  ^ 
maintains  its  normal  power  of  making  position :  but 
mjovis  it  is  not  recognized  at  all,*  so  that  the  word 
has  to  be  scanned  as  a  pyrrich.  Even  in  Lucretius 
the  traces  of  this  shifting  value  of  many  terminal 
sounds  may  be  seen :  indeed,  the  elision  of  final  m 
before  the  following  vowel  has  maintained  its  position 
triumphantly  through  all  periods  of  Roman  poetry. 
We  may,  however,  gather  from  the  words  of  Cicero 
that  the  recos^nition  of  the  existence  of  these  final 
consonants  grew  stronger  with  time.  He  says  (Orat. 
48,  161)  that  the  elision  of  the  s  in  ''  omnibu(s)  prin- 
ceps"  is  "iam  subrusticum,"  but  he  adds  **olimautem 
politius." 

42.  Naturally  enough  this  process  was  very  gradual 
in  its  development.  **  Language  is  the  offspring  of 
need  and  the  foster  child  of  social  feeling :  its  growth 
and  its  enrichment  are  the  effect  of  time :  its  beauti- 
fication  is  the  work  of  taste,  and  we  must  look  to 
the  union  of  all  the  Muses  for  its  perfection.  The 
written  language  of  a  great  nation  which  rises  by 
slow  degrees  (and  this  merely  by  imitating  other 
stages  of  culture  alien  to  its  own)  from  the  mere  level 

*  Cf.  "tempus  fert"  (Plautus),  "magis  stetisse"  (Terence). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


75 


of  Nature,  passing  through  every  stage  of  barbarism 
— such  written  language  requires  a  series  of  centuries 
before  it  can  attain  even  a  moderate  degree  of 
perfection.  Such  development  presupposes  the  con- 
currence of  numerous  favourable  circumstances.  But 
of  all  these  circumstances  one  especially  must  be 
insisted  on:  that  the  learned  class  of  any  nation, 
and  chief  of  these  the  writers  of  genius  and  taste, 
the  poets,  orators,  historians  and  popular  philoso- 
phers, always  contribute  most  to  its  enrichment, 
development  and  refinement"  (Wieland,  1872). 

Luther,  we  know,  had,  as  a  Central  German,  a 
specially  keen  ear  for  dialectic  peculiarities,  seeing 
that  he  listened  simultaneously  to  the  dialects  of 
Higher  and  Lower  Germany,  and  thus  seemed 
chosen  by  Providence  to  ensure  for  the  written  lan- 
guage of  the  High  German  chancelleries,  by  his 
translation  of  the  Bible,  the  wide  distribution  which 
it  enjoyed.  In  the  same  way  the  written  language 
of  Rome  was  influenced  by  Greeks,  half-Greeks, 
Oscans,  Umbrians,  and  Celts,  for  these  had  to  learn 
Latin  and  to  adapt  it  to  their  circumstances. 

43.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  taste  of  the  old  Roman 
poets  was  far  from  refined,  and  the  Public  made  no 
great  demands,  because  it  was  destitute  of  all  pro- 
found aesthetic  culture.  Their  very  poems  aimed 
at  exciting  interest  rather  by  their  subject  than  by 
their  grace.  The  appeal  of  Ennius  to  the  Muses  in 
the  Proemium  to  the  "  Annals,"  *'  Musae,  quae  ped- 
ibus  magnum  pulsatis  Olympum,"  might  be  as  effect- 
ually addressed  to  trampling  steeds :  and  the  childish 


76   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

pleasure  which  the  poet  finds  in  imitating  by  onoma- 
topoeia the  braying  of  martial  trumpets,  "  At  tuba 
terribili  sonitu  taratantara  dixit"  (Ann.  452,  v), 
draws  from  us  an  involuntary  smile.  The  mutilation 
of  such  words  as  gaudium  into  gau  ("  laetificum  gau," 
Ann.  451)  is  harsh  and  violent,  and  the  junction  of 
such  forms  as  quicqua7ny  qiiisqtiam^  cuiquam  in  one 
drama  (Trag.  448)  is  unclassical  not  to  say  un- 
Roman.  The  violent  separation  of  words  into  two 
parts  depends  upon  a  complete  misapprehension  of 
so-called  Tmesis,  which  completely  jars  with  the 
genius  of  the  Latin  language.  Such  are  *'cere — 
comminuit — brum  "  (Ann.  586)  and  "  Massili — port- 
abant  iuvenes  ad  litora — tanas"  (Ann.  605).  In 
their  vocabulary  the  writers  of  this  time  were  not 
delicate.  Expressions  which  were  at  a  later  date 
banned  and  barred  from  classical  usage,  and  con- 
signed to  the  language  of  the  people,  are,  at  this  time, 
regular  and  normal :  indeed,  whole  groups  of  words 
bearing  the  popular  stamp,  such  as  adverbs  in  -iter 
formed  from  adjectives  of  the  second  declension, 
substantives  in  -ela^  -monium,  -tudo,  are  remarkably 
prevalent.  Sometimes  we  alight  on  whole  Greek 
sentences:  and  the  anomaly  of  the  formation  of 
hybrid  compounds  of  Greek  and  Latin,  such  as 
ikermo-potarey  ante-logiumy  ra-pacida,  is  seen  in  its 
infancy ;  indeed  it  may  be  paralleled  by  the  recast- 
ing of  several  Greek  dramas  to  make  one  Roman 
play,  and  by  the  mixture  of  Greek  and  Roman  local 
colour  that  we  often  see  in  the  process.  Again,  most 
of  the  old  Roman  poets  acted  and  wrote  as  though 
each   one   of  them  was  equally   able  to   compose 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


n 


comedies  or  tragedies,  for  following  the  example  of 
the  Greeks,  Plautus  was  the  first  to  adopt  a  system- 
atic separation  of  the  two.  Thus  the  characteristic 
of  this  period  is  its  lack  of  finish.  The  writers  are 
animated  with  the  best  intentions,  but  the  words  of 
Horace,  "Versate  diu,  quid  ferre  recusent.  Quid 
valeant  humeri,"  had  not  yet  been  written — still  less 
his  maxim  "nonum  prematur  in  annum" — and  we 
must  remember  the  proverb  ''ultra  posse  nemo  obli- 
gatur."  The  Romans  of  that  time  thought  differ- 
ently on  this  subject;  indeed,  even  in  later  times 
there  were  found  persons  to  admire  and  patronize 
those /r^V^/,  and  casci  viri,  who,  misled  by  a  prejudice 
for  old  Roman  simplicity  and  nawet^,  possessed, 
from  our  point  of  view,  but  little  critical  faculty. 
For  instance,  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the 
poet  Naevius,  most  likely  composed  by  Varro, 
celebrates  in  Saturnian  verse  the  high  merits  of  the 
poet:  ''Were  it  seemly  that  immortals  should  weep 
for  mortals,  the  divine  Camenae  would  weep  for  the 
poet  Naevius.  And  so,  since  he  has  been  made  over 
to  the  place  of  death,  Rome  has  forgotten  to  speak 
in  the  Latin  tongue,"  i.e.  in  old  Latin,  in  national 
Roman:  and  Aelius  Stilo's  view  was  that  if  the 
Muses  had  wished  to  speak  in  Latin,  they  would 
unquestionably  have  chosen  the  diction  of  Plautus : 
a  verdict  which  did  not  quite  meet  with  the  approba- 
tion of  Quintilian.  He,  the  arch-Ciceronian,  fully 
appreciated  the  difference  between  the  language  of 
a  classical  author  with  its  fine  gradations  and  ex- 
quisite style,  and  the  straightforward  diction  of  a 
Plautus,  created  to  suit  the  demands  of  the  popular 


78       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

taste.  What  Quintilian  says  about  Accius  and  Pacu- 
vius,  "  Nitor  et  summa  in  excolendis  operibus  manus 
magis  videri  potest  temporibus  quam  ipsis  defuisse," 
is  far  more  true  of  their  predecessors. 

44.  Yet,  with  all  their  defects,  those  works  con- 
tained the  germ  of  a  new  phase  of  life  in  both  litera- 
ture and  language.  Ennius  was  the  first  to  take  a 
bold  and  decisive  step  in  the  direction  of  progress — 
Ennius,  who  in  Lucretius'  judgment  was  the  first 
to  bear  the  evergreen  chaplet  from  Helicon.  The 
Saturnian  verse  had  to  give  way  to  the  Greek  Hexa- 
meter, />.,  the  accentual  rhythm  to  the  quantitative.* 

Syllables,  after  a  long  period  of  uncertainty 
and  fluctuation,  now  for  the  first  time  received  a 
certain  fixed  quantity,  and  terminal  sounds  acquired 
a  ereater  steadiness.  The  stiff  lapidary  form  was 
gradually  given  up,  and  the  *'  broken-winded  con- 
geries  of  lanky  limbs "  was  replaced  by  flesh  and 
blood  and  more  pleasing  harmonies,  and,  following 
the  Hellenic  model,  the  vocabulary  was  enriched  by 
a  stately  train  of  newly-minted  compounds.  Foreign 
words  were  added.   Till  now  Greek  expressions  had 

*  There  are,  however,  two  main  theories  as  to  the  character  of 
Saturnian  verse,  the  quantitative  and  the  accentual.  Those  who 
hold  the  former  theory  regard  the  Saturnian  verse  as  a  verse  of 
six  feet  with  an  anacrusis,  and  a  break  after  the  fourth,  or  more 
rarely  after  the  third  thesis;  cf.  The  Queen  was  in  her  parlour, 
eating  bread  and  h6ney.  According  to  the  second  theory,  this 
verse  was  an  accentual  one,  no  regard  being  paid  to  quantity. 
Lindsay  holds  that  the  first  hemistich  has  three  accents  and  the 
second  two,  as  dabiint  malum  Metelli  ||  Na^vio  poetae.  See  Lane's 
Lat.  Gr.  §  2553. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


79 


found  their  way  into  Latin  merely  as  the  result  of 
long  commercial  intercourse,  but  now  came  the  re- 
ception of  other  expressions  due  to  distinct  literary 
influence.  Such  were  daedalus  ((Ta/J^aAo?),  malacus 
{{xocXocKog,  mollis),  cufuatilis  (from  kZ^o,^  sea-green), 
dia  dearum  {^^'io.  ^iocoou)y  pelagus  {irkxocyoq),  termo  (repfjLuv, 
terminus),  ephebus  (e^'^Po?),  poema  {iroUfAa,),  poeta 
(TTotnW?),  pontus  (TTOkTo?),  cantpsare  {y.(x.^irTiiy)y  etc. 
Such  words,  found  in  great  numbers  in  the  oldest 
Latin  poets,  especially  in  Ennius,  are  a  proof  of  the 
influence  of  Greek  poetry.  It  became  more  and  more 
the  custom  to  enliven  style  by  epithets  coined  after 
Greek  models,  and  conforming  to  the  exigences  of 
the  Hexameter.  Similes  and  metaphors,  formerly 
rare  in  verse,  appear  with  increased  frequency, 
though  these  in  many  cases  were  either  translated  or 
imitated  directly  from  Homer.  Side  by  side  with 
metaphors  taken  from  agriculture  and  war,  tropes 
taken  from  the  sea  and  the  chase  played  a  great  part. 
The  comparison  of  the  people  restlessly  stirring  to 
and  fro  in  the  assembly,  with  the  sea,  seemed  to  the 
Roman  Senate  in  the  year  189  B.C.  new  and  striking 
(Polybius,  xxi,  31,  cf.  xi,  29,  9,  Hultsch),  but  by  the 
time  of  Cicero  it  was  trite,  and  in  Livy's  day  hack- 
neyed. It  was  possibly  at  this  time  that  the  transition 
oi percontari  i^xom  contus  =  yioyro<;)  properly  **to  sound 
with  a  steering  pole"  [and  allied  by  popular  ety- 
mology with  percunctor]  was  applied  to  research  in 
general,  and  such  expressions  appear  as  '*  verborum 
fluctus — animus  fluctuat"  (Plaut.  Merc,  v,  2,  49), 
''  praeda  undat"  (Enn.  Trag.  520),  "  iacturam  facere," 
to  jettison  and  then  to  lose.    Of  like  character  are 


8o      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

indagare,  to  track  out,  properly  to  hunt  into  a  net 
(cf.  vestigium,  a  track),  a  meaning  which  was  subse- 
quently transferred  to  all  possible  acts  of  pursuit: 
indeed,  Ennius  introduces  the  simile:  "Sicut  si 
quando  vincHs  venatica  velox  Apta  solet  canis  forte 
feram  sei  nare  sagaci  Sensit  voce  sua  nictit  ululatque 

ibi  acute,"  etc. 

While  admitting  that  much  of  the  metaphorical 
colouring  of  the  early  Latin  poets  was  due  to  Hel- 
lenic influence,  we  must  nevertheless  remember  that 
at  the  time  to  which  we  are  now  referring,  ocean  travel 
and  the  chase  were  fairly  popular  in  Rome,  other- 
wise the  poets  would  scarcely  have  adopted  so  freely 
metaphors  taken  from  such  pursuits.  It  is  a  gener- 
ally admitted  truth,  that  a  nation's  metaphors  and 
similes  reflect  the  contemporary  culture  of  that  nation. 
The  language  of  Homer  gives  us  information  relative 
to  the  manners  and  customs  of  Homeric  times. 
"  The  poet  borrows  the  majority  of  his  similes  from 
elementary  natural  phenomena,  the  occupations  of 
simple  uncivilized  men,  hunters,  the  fishermen,  cattle- 
herds,  rustics,  smiths,  carpenters,  tanners,  etc."  The 
ship  seldom  occurs  in  these  early  tropes  because 
ocean  travel  was  at  that  time  but  little  developed. 
But  we  are  able  to  follow  the  progress  of  the  Greeks 
in  sea-faring  matters  by  the  metaphors  in  use  in 
their  later  poets.  In  Pindar  we  find  already  seven- 
teen such  metaphors :  in  Aeschylus  thirty,  in  Sophocles 
eleven,  in  Euripides  no  less  than  thirty-six.  Thus 
Pecz  ("Beitrage  zur  vergleichenden  Tropik  der 
Poesie,"  i  Teil,  Berlin,  1886)  is  perfectly  right  in 
maintaining  that  in  the  metaphors  of  Aeschylus  we 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


81 


see  reflected  the  times  of  the  Persian  war :  in  those 
of  Sophocles  the  age  of  Pericles,  and  in  those  of 
Euripides  the  period  of  Demagogy.  Thus  the  figures 
of  speech  of  old  Latin  poetry  teach  us  that  the 
Romans  of  that  time,  after  an  intermission  of  cen- 
turies, entered  into  maritime  commerce  with  spirit 
and  energy,  and  that,  after  the  Punic  Wars,  it  was 
the  custom  to  devote  much  time  to  the  chase,  after 
the  Oriental  fashion. 


45.  Generally  speaking,  poetry  and  poets  alike 
stood  in  that  age  in  no  great  repute.  Cato  says 
"  Poeticae  artis  honos  non  erat."  In  the  circle  of 
the  Scipios  we  meet  with  the  most  aesthetic  taste 
and  the  highest  scientific  culture.  This  great  family 
found  pleasure  in  appreciating  the  poets  of  their  own 
circle,  not,  it  must  be  admitted,  without  an  eye  to 
their  own  advantage.  In  fact,  just  as  they  began  by 
forming  a  cohors  praetoria  in  order  to  increase,  in  the 
eyes  of  subject  nations,  the  prestige  of  the  greatest 
power  in  the  world,  they  were  eager  to  encourage 
in  every  way  the  singers  of  their  exploits,  and  prob- 
ably also  to  influence  the  language  of  their  race.  At 
all  events  A.  Gellius  (Noct.  Att.  ii,  20,  5)  states  the 
tradition  that  *'  Scipionem  omnium  aetatis  suae  pur- 
issime  locutum."  The  scribae,  to  whom  had  been 
assigned  till  now  a  chamber  intended  for  meetings 
situated  on  the  Aventine  in  the  Plebeian  quarter, 
were  summoned  from  their  dark  corner  and  invited 
to  bask  in  the  glory  of  their  Imperatores.  Cato 
brought  Ennius  with  him  to  Rome,  and  M.  Fulvius 
Nobilior,  on  his  Aetolian  campaign,  kept  him  in  his 

G 


82       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

entourage-,  others  followed  his  example,  and  It  be- 
came the  fashion,  especially  after  the  days  of  Afri- 
canus   the  younger,  for  generals  to  take  poets  in 
their  escort.    The  influence  of  the  Scipionic  circle  is 
particularly  noticeable  in  Terence.    The  language  of 
the  plays  of  Terence  is  purer  and  more  refined,  and 
generally  more  correct,  than  that  of  Plautus.     But 
how  little  such  virtues  of  style  were  prized  at  that 
time  is  plain  from  the  judgments  of  his  mistrustful 
colleagues,  who  called  his  "  oratio  "  tenuis,  and  his 
"scriptura"  levis  (pale  and  expressionless)  in  com- 
parison with  that  of  Caecilius.    It  was  with  Terence, 
too,  that  rhetoric  began  to  force  its  way  even  more 
and  more  into  poetry :  indeed,  rhetoric  raised  itself 
in  no  long  time  to  a  power  of  the  first  rank,  and 
spread  itself  gradually  over  all   Roman   literature. 
In   the    first    half  of   the    second    century   before 
Christ,   the  impulse  given   to   literature  by  Greek 
philosophers  and  rhetors  in   Rome  was  so  great, 
that  all  the  efforts  of  the  "national"  party  in  Rome 
to  stay  the  current  proved  unavailing.*    The  Epi- 
cureans Alcaeus  and  Philiscus,  who  were  exiled  in 
173  B.C.,  and  especially  the  grammarian  Crates  of 
Mallus  [who  in  157  B.C.  was  sent  by  Attalus  as  an 
ambassador  to  Rome,  where  he  introduced  for  the 
first  time  the  study  of  grammar],  and  further,  the 
historian    Polybius,   with    all    the    numerous  other 
Achaeans  who  were  detained  for  years  in  captivity  at 
Rome  as  hostages,  and  lastly,  the  Athenian  Embassy 

*  For  the  effects  of  Greek  culture  on  Roman  thought,  see 
Mayor's  "Ancient  Philosophy"  (Cambridge  University  Press), 
pp.  209  sqq. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


83 


sent  to  Rome  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
Academic  philosopher,  Carneades,  made  such  a 
strong  impression  on  the  youth  of  Rome,  that 
henceforth  grammatical  and  rhetorical  studies  entered 
into  the  daily  necessities  of  a  Roman's  life.  They 
were  greedily  caught  at  by  every  one,  '*  quasi 
diuturnam  sitim  explere  cupiens"  (Cic.  De  Sen. 
viii,  26).  For  rhetoric  aided  the  Roman  taste  for 
lucidity  of  thought  and  logical  definiteness  of  repre- 
sentation. Soon  Latin  rhetoricians,  too,  opened  their 
schools.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  in  Pacuvius  and 
Ennius  the  results  of  rhetorical  studies  were  even 
more  apparent  than  in  their  predecessors.  The  anti- 
theses and  the  parallelism  observable  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  sentences,  and  the  better  rounded  and 
fuller  periods  of  their  style,  stand  out  in  sharp  con- 
trast to  that  of  the  ordinary  language  of  the  day, 
which  contains  many  vulgarisms. 


46.  But  the  orators  reaped  the  main  advantage 
of  the  new  rhetoric.  The  art  of  persuasion  alike 
in  the  Senate,  in  the  popular  assembly,  and  in  the 
Law  Courts,  had  been  practised  from  the  earliest 
times,  and  it  is  sufficiently  remarkable  that  the  first 
prose  work  published  by  a  Roman  author  contains 
a  speech  of  the  blind  Censor,  Appius  Claudius. 
The  opportunity  now  presented  itself  of  learning 
the  principles  of  a  correct  training,  and  these  prin- 
ciples were  eagerly  hailed  as  offering  a  greater 
chance  of  success  in  oratory.  Especially  did  M.  An- 
tonius  and  L.  Licinius  distinguish  themselves — the 
only  orators  whom  Cicero  considers  worthy  (as  he 


84       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

says  in  his  De  Or.)  to  serve  as  the  interpreters  of 
his  ideas  and  reflections  on  rhetoric.  According  to 
him  (De  Or.  i,  26,  178)  they  especially  avoided  the 
"  barbaries  forensis,"  and  endeavoured  to  employ  a 
correct  language.  That  they  attained  to  this  correct- 
ness by  means  of  strict  academical  training  appears, 
not  merely  from  the  surviving  fragments  of  their 
speeches,  but,  at  least  in  the  case  of  Crassus,  from  a 
hexameter  of  Lucilius  (/V.  inc,  xxxiii).  '*  Crassum 
habeo  generum,  ne  rhetoricoteros  tu  sis  "  [quoted  by 
Cic.  De  Or.  iii,  n,  171];  and  when  the  same  poet 
says:  "Crassi  pater  huius  panaethi "  =  splendidi,  it 
seems  probable  that  he  refers  to  the  same  orator. 
Thus  oratorical  grace  of  form  may  be  dated  from 
Licinius  Crassus.  His  style  of  expression  was  care- 
fully chosen  and  lucid,  clever,  and  sparkling  with 
wit.  He  aimed  also  at  pregnancy  of  exposition,  and 
strictly  limited  his  periods.  He  employed,  too, 
parallelism  in  the  division  of  his  sentences,  which 
materially  contributes  to  clearness  of  style.  In  con- 
trast to  him,  M.  Antonius,'^  in  his  quality  of  zealous 
disciple  of  the  great  master,  Cato,  strove  to  attain  a 
simpler  and  less  ornate  styleof  expression.  Buthehad 
the  art  of  marshalling  every  clause  in  every  sentence 
so  that  each  fell  into  its  appropriate  place,  with  the 
result  that  his  periods  resembled  a  skilfully  arranged 
army  in  battle  array.   Considerations  not  of  beauty, 

*  A  full  account  of  the  oratory  of  Crassus  and  of  M.  Antonius 
is  given  in  Prof.  Wilkins'  "  De  Oratore,"  p.  12.  Antonius  always 
tried  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  undue  elaboration,  though,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  prepared  his  speeches  very  carefully.   Brut.  37, 

139- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


85 


but  of  utility  directed  his  impulses.  Sallust,  too, 
followed  close  on  Cato's  footsteps  and  set  himself 
deliberately  to  seek  out  archaic  forms.  But  in 
Hortensius  the  turgid  style  of  Asiatic  oratory  seemed 
to  gain  new  ground. 

47.  Not  till  the  time  of  Cicero  did  the  elegance 
and  grace  of  Hellenic  form  ally  itself  with  Roman 
earnestness  and  dignity.  Cicero  was  the  first  who 
enabled  the  Latin  language  to  become  what  fate 
intended  it  should  become,  the  means  whereby 
classic  culture — in  fact,  it  may  be  said  all  the 
culture  of  antiquity — became  known  to  the  north- 
ern barbarians.  Thus  Velleius  Paterculus  has  good 
grounds  for  his  assertion  (i,  17,  3):  "At  oratio  ac 
vis  forensis  perfectumque  prosae  eloquentiae  decus, 
pace  P.  Crassi  Scipionisque  et  Laeli  et  Gracchorum 
et  Fanni  et  Servi  Galbae  dixerim,  ita  universa  sub 
principium  operis  sui  erupit  Tullio,  ut  delectari  ante 
eum  paucissimis,  mirari  neminem  possis."  On  this 
ground,  too,  Tacitus,  Dial.  c.  18,  was  justified  in 
maintaining  *'  Mutari  cum  temporibus  formas  quoque 
et  genera  dicendi;  sic  Catoni  seni  comparatus  C. 
Gracchus  plenior  et  uberior,  sic  Graccho  politior 
et  ornatior  Crassus,  sic  utroque  distinctior  et  uberior 
et  altior  Cicero."  Of  him  it  may  be  said  more  truly 
than  of  any  Roman  that  he  was  hivlq  xkyay — as  far 
as  any  Roman  could  merit  this  high  praise;  he, 
more  than  any  other  orator,  was  a  supreme  master 
of  language.  Doubtless  Cicero's  efforts  were  not 
always  received  with  favour:  opposition  to  them 
manifested  itself  from  more  than  one  quarter.    Thus 


86       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

he  was  opposed  by  the  Roman  Atticists  under  the 
guidance  of  C.  LIcinius  Calvus,  and  these  criticized 
him  sharply  and  bitterly  (Quint,  xii,  lo,  12).*  Be- 
sides this,  he  was  met  by  a  set  of  critics  of  inflexible 
and  defiant  national  pride,  who  actually  piqued 
themselves  on  speaking  in  the  highest  degree  in-- 
Msitate  and  mquinate,  affecting  as  they  did  to  believe 
that  correctly  and  unusually  were  convertible  terms. 
The  improvement  of  style  was  proceeding  rapidly, 
and  was  not  to  be  checked:  but  still  there  were  men 
of  the  old  school  who  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  new  Hellenism,  and  expressed  their  decided 
preference  for  the  old  Roman  style.  Of  course  their 
efforts  were  fruitless.  On  the  other  hand,  Cicero 
had  no  lack  of  admirers  and  disciples.  Caesar  gave 
him  the  most  remarkable  testimony  when  he  wrote 
on  dedicating  to  the  orator  his  work,  "  De  Analogia": 
'*  You  have  discovered  all  the  treasures  of  oratory, 
and  have  been  the  first  to  employ  them.  Thereby  you 
have  laid  the  Roman  people  under  a  mighty  obliga- 
tion, and  you  honour  your  fatherland.  You  have 
gained  the  brightest  glory,  and  a  triumph  which  is 
to  be  preferred  to  the  triumph  of  the  greatest  gen- 
erals :  for  it  is  a  nobler  thing  to  enlarge  the  bound- 
aries of  the  intelligence  than  those  of  the  empire." 

48.  In  any  case  it  is  true  that  with  Cicero  the 
**  parens  facundiae  Latinarumque  litterarum"  (Plin. 
Nat.  Hist,  vii,  30),  oratorical  and  philosophical 
prose  had  attained  its  high  water  mark.    No  one, 

*  [Cf.  also  Cic.  Orator,  §  76  sqq. :  and  especially  Tac.  Dial. 

18.] 


x\ 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


87 


either  of  his  predecessors  or  of  his  successors,  has 
approached  him  in  lucidity  and  appropriate  expres- 
sion, in  delicate  exposition,  in  rhythm,  in  harmony, 
in  the  just  accentuation  of  syllables,  and  in  the  careful 
balancing  of  his  sentences,  and  of  their  periods.  The 
orator  might  easily  have  been  betrayed  into  a  too 
implicit  trust  in  his  own  oratory :  and  in  this  confid- 
ence he  might  have  set  himself  to  conquer  even  in  a 
bad  cause,  and  deliberately  have  tried  to  deceive  the 
people:    and   certainly  Cicero   has   not  altogether 
escaped  this  danger.     His  style,  together  with  his 
vacillating  political  views,  worked  deleteriously  on 
his    character.     What   Cato  once  dreaded  for  the 
young  men  of  Rome,  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit 
of  the  three  Greek  philosophers— that  they  might 
be  tempted  to  rate  the  glory  of  words  higher  than 
that  of  deeds,  and  that  in  the  glamour  of  Greek 
dialectics  they  might  find  it  hard  to  see  the  truth 
(Plut.   Cato,    22;    Plin.  Nat.   Hist,  vii,   31,    in)— 
followed  as  a  natural  sequel  of  the  new  methods  of 
rhetorical  training. 

49.  We  have  been  engaged  on  the  features  of 
style  which  reflected  and  forwarded  the  improve- 
ment and  the  ennoblement  of  the  Latin  tongue;  it 
is  now  time  to  turn  to  those  which  reflect  more 
particularly  the  influence  of  growing  culture  on 
language.  We  get  a  good  idea  of  these  from  the 
figures  of  speech,  and  especially  from  the  metaphors, 
employed  by  Cicero.  Side  by  side  with  the  old  and 
favourite  figures  borrowed  from  agriculture,  war,  and 
jurisprudence,  we  find  a  series  of  new  metaphorical 


88       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 


expressions:  the  technical  terms  of  horse-racing  and 
gladiatorial  shows  came  into  fashion.  Then  the  stage, 
medicine,  arts,  and  sciences  contributed  their  colour- 
ing, and  references  to  Greek  literature,  and  especially 
to  Homer,  became  common.  The  language,  too, 
was  enriched  by  the  study,  the  translation,  and  the 
editing  of  philosophical  writings  and  other  scientific 
Greek  works :  hence  new  terminations  were  formed, 
and  the  number  of  abstract  terms  was  materially 
increased:  conceptions  of  species,  too,  the  lack  of 
which  had  not  made  itself  felt  in  a  primitive  stage 
of  culture,  were  more  defined.  Still  this  process  was 
but  slow:  for  instance,  the  word  ''pardon"  had  to 
be  expressed  by  "ignoscendi  ratio"  (Cic.  Rose. 
Am.  i,  3):  for  **  being,"  to  U,  even  Seneca  had  no 
expression:  he  wrote  (Ep.  58,  6):  "to  U  dico  'quod 
est';  cogor  verbum  pro  vocabulo  ponere  "  ;  at  a  later 
period  essentia  and  ens  were  formed  after  Greek 
analogy. 


50.  The  number  of  borrowed  words  multiplied  in 
all  branches  of  life,  and  more  especially  in  intellectual 
conceptions.  However  successful  Cicero's  authority, 
and  his  endeavour  to  call  into  being  a  philosophical 
terminology,  might  be  deemed,  and  however  much 
encouragement  he  received  in  his  efforts  to  supersede 
Greek  artistic  expressions  by  those  of  Latin  origin, 
still,  as  a  rule,  the  Greek  word  was  taken  over  in 
its  simplicity.  Even  such  a  genial  poet  as  Lucretius, 
who  solved  the  difficult  problem  of  representing  a 
philosophical  system  in  verse,  had  to  confess  (i, 
11^  sqq)\ 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  89 

Nee  me  animi  fallit  Graiorum  obscura  reperta 
difficile  illustrare  Latinis  versibus  esse, 
multa  iiovis  verbis  praesertim  cum  sit  agendum 
propter  egestatem  linguae  et  rerum  novitatem ; 

and  again,  in  iii,  259  sqq. : 

Rationem  reddere  aventem 
abstrahit  invitum  patrii  sermonis  egestas. 

and  others  found  themselves  in  the  same  difficulty. 
Hence  the  number  of  foreign  words  in  Latin  in- 
creased amazingly,  and  Roman  writers  grew  more 
and  more  to  employ  Greek  as  a  neat  auxiliary  to 
round  off  their  phrases,  much  as  the  Germans,  es- 
pecially since  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  employed 
French:  only  with  this  difference,  that  the  Germans 
kept  their  poetry  as  far  as  possible  free  from  foreign 
elements,  while  in  Rome  the  poets,  more  than  any 
other  class  of  writers,  had  recourse  to  them.  The 
Germans  feel  a  profound  conviction  that  poetry,  as 
the  expression  of  man's  deepest  feelings,  of  all  that 
moves  and  stirs  his  heart  most  powerfully,  must  be 
before  all  things  national',  the  Romans,  on  the  other 
hand,  acted  on  the  principle  that  the  ear  of  the 
hearers  must  be  captivated  by  melodious  harmonies 
and  pleasing  form:  "  Non  satis  est  pulchra  esse 
poemata,  dulcia  sunto"  [Horace,  Ars  Poet.  99]. 

51.  A  further  sign  of  growing  refinement  in 
culture  appeared  in  the  endeavour  manifested  by  the 
authors  of  the  period  to  avoid  or  to  veil  words  and 
ideas  which  suo^orested  coarseness. 

Writers  in  the  first  instance  abstained  from  using 
such  words,  replacing  them  by  harmless,  colourless 


90      LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

expressions.  But  through  frequent  usage,  even  these 
came  to  be  more  and  more  connected  with  increas- 
ingly unpleasant  associations,  so  that  they  in  their 
turn  began  to  be  banned,  and  finally  disappeared 
from  use  in  cultured  circles.  Several  vulgar  words 
which  had  been  in  general  use  in  Latin  literature 
went  out  of  usage  and  were  employed  by  satirists  only, 
and  merely  for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  the  dark 
side  of  Roman  civilization.  Cicero  writes  in  a  letter  to 
Paetus  (Ad  Fam.  ix,  22):  **  Ego  servo  et  servabo — 
sic  enim  assuevi — Platonis  verecundiam.  Itaque 
tectis  verbis  ea  ad  te  scripsi,  quae  apertissimis  Stoici. 
Sed  illi  etiam  crepitus  aiunt  aeque  liberos  ac  ructus 
esse  oportere,"  and  in  a  similar  spirit  he  says  (De 
Or.  iii,  164):  *' Fugienda  est  omnis  turpitudo  .  .  . 
nolo  dici  morte  Africani  castratam  esse  rempublicam; 
nolo  stercus  curiae  dici  Glauciam."  It  thus  appears 
that  literary  men  knew  the  coarse  terms,  but  avoided 
mentioning  them,  and  preferred  to  cloak  them  with 
a  decent  veil. 

As  a  counterfoil  to  this  process  it  was  unavoidable 
that  at  this  period  perfectly  innocent  words  and  ideas 
received  in  some  cases  an  ironical  connotation,  and 
were  degraded  into  expressions  of  contempt.  For 
the  civil  war,  so  long  protracted,  and  especially  the 
degrading  influence  of  the  delatores,  had  spoiled  the 
character  of  the  people.  The  period  of  childish  art- 
lessness,  self-complacency,  and  simplicity,  had  passed 
away.  Malice  and  evil  of  every  kind  had  become  so 
much  a  matter  of  course,  that  it  became  an  involuntary 
factor  in  the  pessimistic  colouring  given  to  the  signi- 
fication of  words.    Thucydides  mentions  (iii,  82)  the 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


91 


influence  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  on  the  language 
of  Greece :  "  Proper  shame  is  now  termed  sheer 
stupidity :  shamelessness,  on  the  other  hand,  is  called 
manliness:  voluptuousness  passes  for  good  tone: 
haughtiness  for  good  education :  lawlessness  for  free- 
dom :  honourable  dealing  is  dubbed  hypocrisy,  and 
dishonesty,  good  fortune."  Sallust  has  a  similar  utter- 
ance with  regard  to  his  era.  He  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  the  younger  Cato,  the  tribune  designate,  the  words 
(Catil.  52,  11):  "Hie  mihi  quisquam  mansuetudinem 
et  misericordiam  nominat !  Jam  pridem  equidem  nos 
vera  vocabula  rerum  amisimus :  quia  bona  aliena 
largiri  liberalitas,  malarum  rerum  audacia  fortitudo 
vocatur,  eo  respublica  in  extremo  sita  est?"  And 
he  represents  Licinius  as  uttering  the  same  thought 
(Hist.  fr.  iii,  82,  13,  Kritz):  *'Quod  ego  vos  moneo 
quaesoque,  ut  animum  advortatis  neu  nomina  rerum 
adignaviam  mutantes*  otiumproservitio  appelletis?'' 

52.  As  soon  as  Augustus  mounted  the  Imperial 
throne,  a  new  chapter  of  Roman  literature  was 
opened.  Poetry  now  rose  to  the  zenith  of  its  brilli- 
ancy. Rome  was  warmed  into  new  life  by  the  gentle 
air  of  peace  :  the  rays  from  the  sun  of  His  Imperial 
Majesty  sent  a  glow  through  men  s  hearts  and  ex- 
panded them.  A  spring-tide  of  song  succeeded,  such 
as  Latium  had  never  before  witnessed :  wine,  woman 
and  song  were  celebrated  by  singers  of  genius.  And 
the  ruler  earnestly  wished  his  people  to  devote 
themselves  with  increasing  interest  to  art  and  science : 
he  wished  to  divert  their  thoughts    from   poHtics. 

*  Cf.  too  Hor.  "  at  vos  virtutes  ipsas  invertitis,"  etc.,  Sat.  i,  3,  55. 


92       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Hence,  in  conjunction  with  Maecenas,  he  made  it  his 
object  to  give  poetry  the  greatest  possible  encourage- 
ment :  he  drew  the  most  celebrated  poets  of  the  day 
into  his  circle  and  honoured  them  with  his  society :  he 
expended  vast  sums  on  shows  and  spectacles,  more 
especially  on  pantomimes  and  mimic  naval  battles. 
Oratory,  which  had  hitherto  won  its  laurels  in  the 
Forum,  found  itself,  under  the  depressing  influence 
of  political  restraint,  now  relegated  to  the  schools 
of  declamation  :  more  than  ever  young  and  old  flocked 
to  the  rhetoricians'  schools  to  take  their  part  in  the 
Controversiae  and  Suasoriae  which  were  held  in 
these  institutions,  to  learn  the  method  whereby  a 
given  theme  is  treated  from  every  side  with  all  kinds 
of  subtleties  and  refinements  of  argument.  Unques- 
tionably poetry  was  the  gainer  by  this  method 
"  That  firm  and  sure  technique  of  arrangement  and 
representation,  that  plastic  of  the  word,  which  gives 
the  stamp  of  classicism  even  to  mediocre  writings, 
dates  from  this  school,  through  which  every  poet 
passed  "  (Ribbeck,  **Geschichte  der  romischen  Dich- 
tung,"  ii,  p.  7).  But  since  it  is  true  that  such  rhetorical 
methods  belong  rather  to  prose  than  to  poetry,  we 
cannot  help  feeling,  even  while  perusing  the  most 
important  productions  of  that  time,  that  they  were 
to  some  extent  the  creations  of  sober  intelliofence : 
we  often  feel  the  lack  of  the  warm  breath  of  inspira- 
tion which  comes  directly  from  the  heart,  and  goes 
straight  to  the  heart  in  turn.  And  we  are  supported 
in  our  view  by  the  inclination  of  the  Roman  poets  to 
masquerade  in  the  guise  of  superior  erudition.  Fol- 
lowing the  precedent  of  the  Alexandrian  poets,  whom 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


93 


it  was  the  fashion  to  take  more  and  more  as  models, 
it  became  increasingly  the  fashion  to  unpack  the 
treasury  of  knowledge  before  the  patient  hearers  or 
readers  of  the  poets  of  this  day.  It  is  a  genuine 
pleasure  to  Ovid  to  recite  in  his  Metamorphoses  the 
names  of  all  the  rivers  and  mountains  which  had 
to  suffer  the  heat  of  the  sun  on  the  occasion  of 
Phaethon's  wild  drive. 

Propertius,  in  his  elegies,  overwhelms  us  with 
references  to  Greek  mythology;  *  Horace,  too,  likes 
to  make  a  brave  show  with  his  Greek  names;  and 
Vergil  not  unfrequently  breaks  the  calm  flow  of  epic 
poetry  by  learned  reflections,  or  again,  by  such 
phrases  as  that  of  Aen.  vi,  173:  ''si  credere  dignum 
est."  Such  phrases  are  not  the  natural  language  of 
poetry,  which,  as  Schiller  has  well  remarked,  has  to 
make  its  way  not  through  the  cold  region  of  the 
intelligence,  and  ought  not  to  summon  erudition  as 
interpreter,  but,  as  it  springs  from  the  heart,  so 
to  the  heart  should  it  appeal.  Besides  this,  no  one 
hesitated  to  grovel  before  the  mighty  emperor  with 
the  utmost  self-abasement,  and,  indeed,  to  pay  him 
homage  with  almost  oriental  servility. 

53.  The  thorough  education  which  Augustus  had 
enjoyed,  had  given  him  a  fine  appreciation  of  form : 
the  brilliancy  of  contemporary  literature  rendered 
him  unsympathetic  to  the  simplicity  and  roughness 
of  the  old  literature  of  Rome.    He  reproved  his  step- 

*  See  Postgate,  "Propertius,  Select  Elegies,"  cap.  v.  "The 
ambition  of  Propertius  was  to  be  the  '  Roman  Callimachus ' " 
(v.  I,  64). 


I 


94       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

son,  the  future  Emperor  Tiberius,  for  his  taste  for 
archaisms,  and  actually  spoke  of  the  "  foetores  recon- 
ditorum  verborum"  (Sueton.  Aug.  86).  With  the  sole 
exception  of  Vergil,  who  made  it  his  object  to  attain 
the  solemn  dignity  and  earnest  note  of  antiquity, 
scarcely  one  of  the  Augustan  poets  permitted  him- 
self the  scanty  licence  allowed  by  Horace  in  his  "  Ars 
Poetica,"  with  respect  to  antique  precedents  (lines 
48  sqq,).  On  the  other  hand,  authors  never  ceased 
their  endeavours  to  render  their  language  pliable 
and  flexible  after  Greek  models,  whence  Tacitus 
speaks  of  ''calamistri  Maecenatii  "  (Or.  c.  25). 

In  some  cases  Greek  constructions  were  simply 
taken  over,  as:  **gaudet  potitus":  in  other  cases 
genuine  old  Roman  constructions  were  employed 
more  freely  than  before,  and  made  to  follow  Greek 
analogy;  these  constructions  were  used  with  words 
of  similar  signification.  We  may  instance  the  objec- 
tive genitive  after  the  adjective  (as  in  the  case  of 
diveSy  which  follows  the  construction  oi plenus,  and  is 
influenced  by  such  Greek  constructions  as  irXodcnoq 
Tivoc;):  and  again  the  simple  infinitive  [used  instead 
of  ut  with  the  subjunctive]  after  impellere,  which  is 
made  to  follow  the  analogy  of  itibere,  but  was  in- 
fluenced by  l-KiT^k-Kuy :  such  constructions  were  much 
favoured.  Again,  following  the  example  given  by 
Greek  poets,  certain  figures  of  speech  came  into 
general  vogue,  cg,^  the  aVo  xoii/ou,*  the  usage  of 
which  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  we  find  it  in 

*  Cf.  Horace,  Odes,  i,  3,  6,  and  ii,  xi,  11,  "Quid  aeternis  mi- 
norem  consiliis  animum  fatigas,"  and  ii,  xvii,  22,  ''impio  tutela 
Saturno." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


95 


Catullus  nine  times,  in  Tibullus  twenty-three,  in 
Propertius  fifty-seven,  in  Horace  a  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  ( Aken.  "  De  figurae  a-rrl  xoti/ou  usu  apud 
Catullum,Tibullum,  Propertium.  Schweriner  Progr.** 
1884;  "  Zeitschrift  fur  Gymnasialw."  xxxi,  337  seq,^. 
But  Greek  inflexional  forms  also  took  root  in 
Latin;  this  usage  was  remarked  in  Accius,  and  criti- 
cized in  his  case,  but  was  afterwards  regarded  as 
not  unusual.  In  older  Latin,  writers  adopting  foreign 
words  had  been  careful  to  give  them  a  Latin  stamp, 
and  with  this  view  had  Latinized  their  terminations: 
but  now  an  opposite  tendency  set  in.  Greek  case- 
forms  were  held  to  be  more  melodious  and  graceful 
than  those  of  Latin,  and  more  suitable  for  the  higher 
flights  of  Lyric  poetry;  thus  they  came  into  more 
constant  use.  Propertius  is  full  of  them,  Horace 
employs  them  more  sparingly.  In  the  Satires  he 
writes  Europam  and  Penelopam :  in  the  Odes  Europen 
and  Penelopen.  More  particularly  in  the  case  of 
proper  names  the  Greek  form  is  maintained,  and 
thus  we  commonly  meet  with  formations  of  the  first 
declension  in  e,  eSy  en,  and  a7i :  in  the  second  in  os 
and  on :  besides  these  we  find  accusatives  of  the  third 
in  iny  yn,  a,  and  as\  genitives  in  os,  and  dative  plurals 
in  sm.  With  this  Censorinus'  ^  remark  tallies  (De  Die 
Nat.  c.  24)  **  Stella  quam  Plautus  Vesperuginem, 
Ennius  Vesperam,  Vergilius  Hesperon  appellat." 

54.  Prose  could  not  but  follow  in  the  wake  of 
poetry;  but  its  progress  marked  decadence.  The 
language  of  prose  should  stand  midway  between  the 

*  Circ,  A.D.  238. 


If   ^ 


96   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

diction  of  the  people  and  that  of  poetry,  and  should 
maintain  itself  at  an  equal  distance  from  each ;  if  it 
approaches  either  extreme  too  closely,  it  loses  its 
balance.  Old  Latin  prose  writers  inclined  too  much 
to  the  vulgar  style.  Silver  Latinity  fell  into  the 
other  extreme ;  under  Vergil's  influence  it  simulated 
originality  by  the  poetical  colouring  of  its  style. 
Tacitus  admits  in  the  Dialogue  about  illustrious 
orators  (20)  *'Exigitur  iam  ab  oratore  etiam  poeticus 
decor,"  and  Quintilian  enlarges  on  his  precepts  by 
adding  *'A  corruptissimo  quoque  poetarum  figuras 
ac  translationes  mutuamur'*;  generally  speaking  the 
principle,  **  Historia  quasi  solutum  carmen,"  was 
challenged.^ 

But  the  declamations  so  popular  at  that  time 
**necessariadeserunt,dumspeciosasectantur"  (Seneca, 
Controv.  9,  praef.  2).  If  the  periods  of  the  ancient 
writers  may  be  compared  to  temples  constructed 
*'rudi  caemento  et  informibus  tegulis,"  the  periods 
of  these  later  writers  resemble  more  nearly  such  as 
"marmore  nitent  et  auro   radiantur"  (Tacitus,  he, 

€itat,\ 

Doubtless  it  may  be  objected  that  prose  writing  in 
Germany  was  mainly  brought  to  perfection  by  poets, 
but  these  were  at  the  same  time  masters  of  a  good 
prose  style.  Indeed,  it  is  open  to  discussion  whether 
Lessing  and  Goethe,  the  former  thanks  to  his  shrewd 
insight,  the  latter  owing  to  his  realistic  appreciation 
of  all  his  surroundings,  were  not  intended  by  Nature 
for  prose  writers,  and  for  holding  the  mirror  up  to 

*  Cicero's  views  on  the  language  of  poetry  may  be  seen  in  the 
Orator,  20,  §  66  sqq. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  97 

Nature  with  marvellous  exactitude.  Should  it,  how- 
ever, be  maintained  that  a  good  prose  writer  must 
perforce  be  a  poet,  this  were  to  mistake  the  essence 
of  prose,  as  indeed  the  writers  of  the  Silver  Latinity 
actually  did.  Still  these  were  the  children  of  their 
age;  they  were  obliged,  if  they  counted  on  any 
response  to  their  writings,  to  reckon  with  the  spirit 
of  that  age. 

55.  The   Romans  of  that  epoch  were  sunk   in 
luxury  and  debauchery.  With  evil  morals,  evil  words 
found  their  way  into  the  language,  "  Tuncque  pri- 
mum"    (says  Tacitus,   Ann.    vi,    i)   "ignota  antea 
vocabula  reperta  sunt  sellariorum  et  spintriarum  ex 
foeditate  loci  ac  multiplici  patentia."     In  Cicero's 
time,  perhaps,  too  much  obvious  attention  was  paid 
to   masking    indecencies.     But  now   speakers   and 
readers  went  so  far  as  to  suspect  improprieties  as 
lurking  behind  good,  honest,  innocent  expressions. 
No  doubt  Sallust  used  the  phrases  "  ductare  exer- 
citus"  and  "patrare   bellum "  without  any  sinister 
connotation;    but  ordinary  modesty  had  by  Quin- 
tilian's  time  sunk  so  much  in  common  estimation, 
that  these  expressions  conveyed  to   the   minds  of 
readers    or    hearers    some    unpleasant    or   sinister 
significance.     Expressions,  harmless  in  themselves, 
were  thus  classed  as  improper,  because  the  genera- 
tion of  readers  was  morally  depraved.    The  genera- 
tion was  called  xaxo>aT<,K,  and  exemplified  the  dictum 
of  Quintilian,  viii,  3:  "Si  mala  consuetudine  in  ob- 
scoenum  intellectum  sermo  detortus  est." 

The  graceful  old  custom  of  beginning  letters  with 

H 


98       LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

the  formula  **si  vales,  bene  est;  ego  valeo,"  which 
had  begun  even  in  Cicero's  age  to  fall  into  disuse, 
now  completely  ceased.  Hence  Seneca  could  say 
(Ep.  15) :  "  Mos  antiquus  fuit  usque  ad  meam  serva- 
tus  aetatem  primis  epistulae  verbis  adicere  :  si  vales 
bene  est."  And  Pliny  (Ep.  i,  1 1,  i)  confirms  this  with 
the  words :  "  Scribe  solum  illud,  unde  incipere  priores 
solebant:  *si  vales,  bene  est,  ego  valeo.'  Hoc  mihi 
sufficit;  est  enim  maximum." 

As  with  the  beginning  of  letters,  so  was  it  with 
the  opening  of  speeches.  In  olden  times  the  custom 
was  to  open  every  speech  with  an  invocation  to  the 
gods.  Servius  on  Vergil  (Aen.  ii,  301)  says: 
**  Maiores  nullam  orationem  nisi  invocatis  numinibus 
inchoabant  sicut  omnes  orationes  Catonis  et  Gracchi; 
nam  generale  caput  in  omnibus  legimus."  But  by 
Cicero  s  time  this  pleasant  old  custom  had  com- 
pletely died  out :  there  is  no  trace  of  any  such  thing 
in  Cicero's  speeches;  nay,  he  actually  treats  with 
derision  (Servius,/<c7^.^//.*'perirrisionem")  this  custom 
in  the  words :  "  Et  si  quid  ex  vetere  aliqua  oratione 
*  lovem  ego  Optimum  Maximum,'  aut  aliquid  eius- 
modo  ediscere  potueris,  praeclare  te  paratum  in 
iudicium  venturum  arbitraris "  {in  Caecil.  13,  43) 
[cf.  also  Livy,  I,  chap,  i], 

56.  The  enrolment  of  many  foreigners  speaking 
Gaulish,  or  some  other  non-Latin  language,  in  the 
ranks  of  Roman  citizenship  or  of  Roman  communi- 
ties, and,  further,  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  old 
gentes  of  the  nobility,  who  had  kept  jealous  watch 
and  ward  over  the  purity  and  propriety  of  the  Ian- 


f 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  99 

guage;    the  boundless  selfishness,   which   reflected 
itself  in  the  language  owing  to  the  increasingly  per- 
sonal and  subjective  standpoint  of  authors— these 
and  other  causes  contributed  to  hasten  the  downfall 
of  Latin.  The  sentences  became  as  ill-constructed  as 
the  buildings  of  the  time;  Livy's  periods  often  tran- 
scend  the  limits  of  the  beautiful  by  their  lengthiness, 
those  of  later  writers  by  their  brevity  and  terse- 
ness. Cicero  always  studied  neatness  and  balance 
in  the  structure  of  his  sentences;  but  it  was  now 
the  fashion  to  avoid  such  balancing.     Instead  of 
"ahi  .  .  .  alii"  they  wrote  "alii  .  .  .  magna  pars," 
etc.;  ablatives  were  made  to  correspond  with  par- 
ticiples (Tac.  Ann.  i,  2y,fletu  and  verberans,  ii,  i,  metu 
and  difftisus),  so  again  adverb  is  balanced  against 
noun  (Tac.  Ann.  xv,  45,  "prospere  aut  in  metu"); 
or,  again,  different  cases  are  balanced  against  each 
other  (Tac.  Ann.  xiv,  19,  **ut  par  ingenio  ita  morum 
diversus,"  Ann.  vi,  30,  "  effusae  dementia,  modicus 
severitate").   Sentences  which  in  classical  Latin  were 
carefully  connected  were  often  placed  asyndetically  in 
juxtaposition.    Asyndeton  and  parenthesis  were  very 
much  in  favour  (examples  may  be  found  in  Drager, 
"Einleitung  zu  Tac.  Ann.,"  §  70,  75,  120).    Words 
grew  into  a  most  unwieldy  length— adjectives  of 
seven  syllables  ending  in  -His  and  -bills  came  to  pre- 
dominate:   clumsy   superlative    forms,    which    had 
hitherto  been  avoided,  occurred  now  with  increasing 
frequency. 

57.  As    material   extravagance    increased,    style 
grew   more   bombastic    and  pointed,    more   showy 


§1 

i  i 


loo  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

and  pompous,  more  affected  and  artificial,  and  withal 
less  attractive  and  more  obscure  in  its  expressions. 
It  became  overloaded  with  figures  of  speech,  similes, 
and  other  poetical  accessories  intended  to  tickle  the 
ear  of  6/ase  readers  to  the  greatest  possible  degree. 
In   old    Latin,  matter   was  the  first   consideration 
and  form  was  of  secondary  consequence:  the  case 
was  now  reversed.    Fawning  and  servility  were  on 
the  increase,  especially  since  the  tyrannical  rigime 
of  Nero  and  Domitian;  men's  last  utterances  were 
those  of  flattery,  "  Talis  hominibus  fuit  oratio,  qualis 
vita"  (Seneca,  Ep.  114,  i).    Thus  the  style  of  this 
period  corresponded  strongly  with  that  of  the  Ger- 
mans in  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury.*   Stiff"  and  manieri  as  the  Spanish  fashions  in 
dress  of  that  century,  high-flown  and  aff*ected  was 
the  style  of  both  Germans  and  Romans;  the  aim 
was  to  appear  witty  and  to  make  a  brave  show  of 
striking  and  unfamiliar  phrases;    in  both  cases  lan- 
guage was  laden  with  daring  metaphors  and  similes, 
far-fetched  points  and  commonplaces  of  every  kind. 
The  writers  hoped  to  carry  off"  their  intrinsic  empti- 
ness and  lack  of  thought  by  high-flown  phraseology. 
To  this  must  be  added  a  fawning  politeness  and 
cringing  attitude  towards  the  court   and   all    high 
officials,  the  natural  result  of  absolute  government. 
The  learned,  at  the  Reformation,  chose  Cicero  and 
the  other  classic  authors  as  their  models: — those  of 
the  following  century  lend  themselves  to  the  attrac- 

*  Cf.  Euphuism  in  English,  and  such  tricks  of  style  as  anno- 
mination.  See  Marsh,  pp.  404  sqq. )  see  also  Minto's  commentaries 
on  the  style  of  Fuller,  p.  307. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


lOI 


tions  of  their  intellectual  kinsmen,  the  late  Latin 
authors,  and  are  anxious  to  outdo  these  in  their 
pompous  and  florid  style. 

58.  But  extremes  meet.    In  Rome  a  reaction  set 
in.    Quintilian  and  the  younger  Pliny  are  the  pair  of 
writers  who,   more  than   any  others,    turned  their 
eyes  on  antiquity  and  chose  Cicero  as  their  model. 
The   classic   written   language  had  gradually  died 
out,  and  seemed  a  strange  tongue  to  its  own  people; 
the  fact  that  the  idiom  employed  in  literature,  and 
learnt  in  the  school,  began  to  be  imperfectly  under- 
stood by  their  contemporaries  compelled  authors  to 
form  their  style  on  older  models.     But  they  found 
few  imitators.     Their  efforts   were  a  brief  spring, 
followed  by  no  summer;  a  nerveless  struggle  against 
the  ever  increasing   self-consciousness  of  the  age, 
itself  the  fruit  of  a  period  of  tyrannical  enslavement. 
The   whole   generation   was,    as    Pliny    himself 
(Ep.   viii,   14,  9)   appositely   remarked,   "hebetata, 
fracta,  contusa."    It  was  unable,  under  the  pressure 
of  that  stifling  atmosphere,  to  rise  into  intellectual 
freedom.    The  flight  of  poetic  genius  was  crippled; 
the  only  notable  poet  of  the  time  was,  significantly 
enough,  a  satirist — Juvenal.    Prose  advanced  further 
on  the  downward  path  on  which  it  had  entered  after 
the  commencement    of  the   Empire.      Even   finer 
natures,  such  as  Nerva  and  Trajan,  were  unable, 
from  the  Imperial  throne,  to  eff*ect  any  change.   Only 
strong  characters,  such  as  Tacitus,  raised  themselves 
by  sheer  strength  of  will  and  personality  above  the 
great  mass,  and  went  their  own  ways.    Steeled  by 


(!'! 


I02     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

misfortune,  he  created  that  pithy,  weighty,  com- 
pressed, concise  style,  which  compels  from  us  in- 
voluntary admiration  for  the  man  who  could  write  it. 
"  It  is  the  gloomy  flare  of  a  devouring  fire,  wrath 
repressed,  and  prophetic  melancholy,  which  finds  its 
issue  in  the  construction  of  these  sentences.  This 
sullen  brevity,  these  swift  lights  and  shades  of  thought 
and  of  irony,  these  volcanic  oscillations  of  language, 
recall  the  symbols  of  a  Cassandra  who  stands  pens- 
ively on  the  verge  of  the  destruction  of  the  old 
world "(Mundt,  "Deutsche  Prosa,"  p.  58).  Tacitus 
remarked  with  absolute  clearness  the  moral  degen- 
eration  of  his  people,  and  just  as  the  Greeks  held 
up  the  Hyperboreans,  who,  according  to  their  con- 
ception, were  in  a  state  of  childish  simplicity  and 
innocence,  as  their  ideal,  the  great  historian  painted 
our  forefathers,  the  old  Germans,  as  the  ideals  of 
primeval  force  and  virility,  and  as  creatures  of  healthy 
frame  and  sound  spirit.  "Through  all  the  narrative 
of  Tacitus  one  seems  to  feel  something  of  the  spirit 
of  bucolic  poetry,  with  which  civilized  man  appeases 
the  longings  of  his  fancy  for  primitive  innocence  " 
(Scherer,"Literaturgeschichte,"p.  5).  Tacitus  paved 
the  way  for  the  literature  to  follow;  the  literature  of 
Hadrian  and  the  Antonines; — the  hall-mark  of  this 
period  is  regret  for  the  good  old  times  that  are  past 
and  gone; — this  regret  has  left  less  traces  on  the 
morals  of  the  period  than  on  the  literature.  Quin- 
tilian  indeed  harked  back  to  Cicero,  but  the  authors 
of  his  day  went  further;  Cato  and  his  times  were  to 
rise  anew.  His  style  now  came  into  favour,  chal- 
lenged imitation,  and  gained  admiration.  Favorinus, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  103 

the  philosopher,  twitted  a  young  man  with  employing 
old-fashioned  expressions  as  though  he  were  hold- 
ing ^'converse  with  the  mother  of  Evander  (Gellius, 
Noct.   Att.   i,    10,    i).     The   Africans    Fronto   and 
Apuleius,    whose   glowing   imagination,    like   their 
fathsrland,  produced  monsters,  outdid  all  in  their 
affected    archaisms   (cf.    A.    Ebert,    "  De    Syntaxi 
Frortoniana,  acta  semin.  phil."  Erlangen,  ii,  31 1  sqq. ; 
H.  Koziol,  ''  DerStildes  L.  Apuleius,"  Vienna,  1872, 
p.   354;    Kretschmann,  "  De   Latinitate  L.   Apulei 
Macaurensis,"  Konigsberg,  1865);  Gellius  was  less 
pretentious  and  terser  in  style.    That  arch-dilettante, 
the  Emperor  Hadrian  himself,  favoured  this  tend- 
en:y.     The  archaisms  employed  by  these  authors 
to  place  their  language  in  singular  and  bold  relief, 
remind  one  of  old  spots  on  a  new  garment.     In 
short,  the  Renascence  due  to  Ouintilian  was  a  mar- 
vellous   rococo    epoch   ("  Multi   ex   alieno    saeculo 
petunt  verba:  duodecim  tabulas  loquuntur.  Gracchus 
illis  et  Crassus  et  Curio  nimis  culti  et  recentes  sunt; 
ad  Appium  usque  et  ad  Coruncanium  redeunt " — 
Sen.  Ep.  114,  13).    The  tide  of  foreign   influence 
set  in  more  vigorously  than  ever  in  the  Capital,  a 
natural  consequence  of  the  admission  to  full  political 
privileges  of  those  Roman  subjects  who  now  refused 
to  recognize  the  literary  supremacy  of  Rome,  and 
presented    themselves    shamelessly   with   all   their 
Provincialisms  (**  Unaquaeque   gens  facta  Roman- 
orum  cum  suis  opibus  vitia  quoque  et  verborum  et 
morum  Romam  transmisit " — Isid.  Orig.  i,  31).    This 
sealed  the  fate  of  correct  Latinity;   numerous  vul- 
garisms crept  into  the  written  language;  caprice  and 


I04  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC. 

lawlessness  ran  riot,  until  finally  literary  and  popular 
language  began  to  coincide,  and,  as  soon  as  the 
Germans  had  broken  up  the  Roman  kingdom,  found 
a  new  life  in  the  Romance  languages. 

59.  It  thus  appears  that  it  stands  with  the  lan- 
guage and  literature  of  the  Romans  as  with  their 
art,  in  fact,  as  with  all  art.  Indeed,  as  Winckelniann 
has  pointed  out  in  one  of  his  letters,  art  reflects,  in 
the  first  instance  the  Necessary,  then  the  Beau:iful, 
finally  the  Superfluous.  In  the  oldest  period  of 
literature,  material  interest  took  precedence,  thought 
influenced  form;  in  the  classic  period  the  two  stood 
side  by  side  with  equal  rights;  the  fair  body  ce- 
manded  a  fair  dress;  in  Silver  Latinity  predomin- 
ance was  granted  to  Form, 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  last  period  contained 
already  the  germ  of  death.  There  was  no  substance 
beneath  the  surface,  no  truth  underlying  the  style. 
It  is  true  that  the  language  contained  enough  force 
to  serve  as  the  expression  of  the  new  spirit  of 
Christendom;  but  this  was  an  expiring  flare,  and, 
what  is  more,  in  the  Latin  of  the  Church  Fathers 
Greek  influence  is  so  evident  that  patristic  literature 
may  be  described  as  half  Hellenized. 


Ill 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  POETS 

60 

A  T  all  times,  and  among  all  peoples  whom  the 
-^^-  Muses  have  deigned  to  patronize,  we  find  a 
broad  distinction  between  the  creations  of  prose  and 
poetry.*  The  lofty  attitude  of  the  singer,  himself 
too  far  removed  from  the  views  of  ordinary  life,  de- 
mands in  its  language  a  loftier  tone.  All  that,  in  his 
hour  of  melancholy,  comes  from  his  heart  is  sacred, 
and  can  therefore  only  appear  clothed  in  dignified 
and  stately  language.  It  is  the  task  of  the  poet 
to  describe  the  beautiful,  to  lull  the  heart  by  his 
sweet  melodies  and  by  his  utterances  of  divine 
sublimity;  hence  he  must  ever  be  careful  to  clothe 
these  sublime  thoughts  in  a  fair  dress,  to  delight  at 
once  eye  and  ear,  heart  and  sense;  the  highest  law 
of  his  diction  is  in  fact  Beauty, 


61.  The  poet's  art  is  in  fact  nearly  allied  with 
music.  Singers  and  poets  occupy  common  ground 
in  popular  estimation,  and  frequently  meet  in  the 
language   which   they  employ.    The   notes  of  the 

*  Cf.  Abbot  and  Seeley's  "  English  Lessons  for  English  People: 
the  Diction  of  Poetry,"  pp.  54  sqq.  "  The  prose  writer,  in  his  choice 
of  a  word,  will  prefer  that  which  conveys  his  meaning  most  suc- 
cessfully; the  poet  will  prefer  that  which  gives  most  pleasure,"  etc. 

105 


I 


io6     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

harp  accompanied  the  lays  of  the  rhapsodists  of  old, 
uttered  by  the  lips  of  the  Maeonian  bard,  and  even 
at  the  present  day  many  an  utterance  of  the  lyric 
poets  is  converted  by  the  art  of  the  composer  into  a 
melodious  song. 

Sweet  and  soft  sound  the  rhythms  whereby  the 
poet's  thoughts  are  wafted  lightly  as  on  wings; 
indeed,  as  Freytag  in  his  "Technik  des  Dramas," 
p.  275,  remarks:  "  In  the  rhythmic  harmony  of 
verse,  feeling  and  emotion,  divorced  from  the  reali- 
ties  of  life,  become,  as  it  were,  transfigured,  and 
enchant  the  spirit  of  the  listener.'* 

The  technique  of  Indo-Germanic  poetry  was 
straightforward  and  simple.  The  long  line  moved 
in  stately  cadence,  its  principle  reposed  on  the  rise 
and  fall  of  the  pitch  accent.  From  it  were  developed 
the  Indian  Sloka  and  the  German  metre  of  the 
"  Niebelungenlied,"  as  well  as  the  Hexameter  of  the 
Greeks,  and  the  Saturnian  of  the  old  Romans. 
Each  nation,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  recast  into  a 
new  form  its  ancient  hereditary  heirloom;  as  national 
peculiarities  developed,  the  ancient  long  line  of  each 
nation's  poetry  took  a  new  colour;  the  light  gliding 
movement  of  the  Hexameter  suited  the  versatility 
of  the  Greeks;  the  serious  and  dignified  demeanour 
of  the  ancient  Romans  was  satisfied  by  their  de- 
velopment of  the  Saturnian,  with  its  accentual  stress, 
its  alliteration,  its  progression  in  sober  and  measured 
time.  Horace  calls  this  metre  "numerus  horridus  " 
(Epist.  ii,  I,  157);  he  dislikes  it,  in  fact,  as  much  as 
he  dislikes  the  uncultured  language  of  that  period. 
But   the   eyes  of  the  singer   who   was  commonly 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


107 


occupied  with  the  rules  of  Greek  rhythm,  were 
partially  blinded — he  could  no  longer  look  with  an 
unprejudiced  and  impartial  view  upon  the  creations 
of  his  ancestors. 

62.   In  old  Ionic  Greek,  with  its  plastic  and  melo- 
dious forms  and  its  great  flexibility,  the  Hexameter 
was  in  its  right  place,  more  especially  in   the   de- 
scriptions of  details  suited  to  epic  poetry,  for  the 
Hexameter  is   not  merely  the  natural  vehicle  for 
simple  narration,  but  it  suits  the  regular  construction 
of  the  sentence,  and  it  favours  generally  a  current  of 
language  which  is  lively   in  tone  and  moves  con- 
fidently onwards.     But  it  was  less  fitted  to  suit  the 
exigences  of  Latin.    When,  however,  it  had  been 
once  introduced  and  cordially  welcomed  by  the  Hel- 
lenized  portion  of  the  better  classes,  the  Romans  had 
to  reckon  with  it  and  bring  it  into  harmony  with 
their  national  character.     Hence  it  was  that  Latin 
poets  departed  from  Greek  usage  by  intercalating 
the  more  weighty  and  impressive  spondee,  and  this 
is  also  the  reason  why  they  preferred  to  employ  the 
masculine  caesura,  with  its  more  rigid  delimitations, 
strongly  marking  the  divisions  into  which  the  line 
naturally  falls,  particularly  in  the  third  foot  {caesura 
semiquinaria,  toixyI  7rf^6)ijutjufp>!?).    Again  they  disliked 
lengthy  words  of  four   syllables  .(Horace's   sesquz- 
pedalia  verba)  at  the  end  of  the  Hexameter,  which 
the  Greeks  preferred  as  giving  the  verse  a  soft  and 
melodious  ending  ("gracili  mollem  pede   claudere 
versum,"  Verg.  Cir.  20).    It  was  for  this  reason,  too, 
that  they  had  such  a  strong  objection  to  spondaic 


io8  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

lines  in  the  penultimate  foot  of  the  Hexameter 
{versus  spondiaci)  which,  as  we  know,  fell  mostly 
on  quadrisyllable  words  (cf.  Quintilian,  ix,  4,  65). 
Though  Ennius,  and  following  him  Lucretius,  em- 
ployed soft  verse  terminations  like  naturai,  we  may 
look  in  vain  for  such  in  classical  Latin;  the  only  ex- 
ception to  this  rule  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
writers  of  the  latter  period  allowed  certain  excep- 
tions in  the  case  of  Greek  words  (cf.  **lenissimus 
Onchesmites,"  Cic.  Ad  Att.  vii,  2). 

63.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Hexameter,  so  the  lyric 
metres  which  made  their  way  more  freely  into  Roman 
poetry  had  to  yield  to  the  levelling  influence  of  the 
Roman  linguistic  spirit.  Thus,  for  instance,  it  is 
notorious  that  Horace  in  his  Alcaics  and  Sapphics  re- 
places, where  the  verse  admits,  a  trochee  or  an  iam- 
bus by  a  spondee,  just  as  in  his  Odes  he  has  carried 
through  the  long  syllable  in  the  anacrusis;  these 
are  mere  tricks  of  style,  aiming  at  bringing  the  metres 
which  took  their  origin  on  foreign  soil  into  harmony 
with  the  peculiarities  of  the  Latin  tongue. 

64.  It  was,  however,  the  sense  of  beauty  which 
dictated  not  merely  the  new  shape  of  the  metres, 
but  also  the  choice  of  words.  There  is  indeed  no 
doubt  that  the  tone  and  the  expression  of  the  Satires 
and  Epistles  approach  much  more  nearly  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people  than  the  more  refined  diction 
of  the  Odes  and  Elegies,  and  that  many  words  are 
admitted  into  the  former  which  are  banned  by  the 
latter.    But  speaking  generally  we  must  admit  that 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


109 


the  poet  has  not  merely  in  his  expressions,  but  par- 
ticularly in  his  choice  of  words,  kept  the  ideal  of 
beauty  before  his  eyes.  His  one  irrefragable  law  is 
to  avoid  sullying  his  style  with  common  words.  The 
motto  on  his  ensign  is  "  Odi  profanum  vulgus  (verb- 
orum)  et  arceo.""^ 

Hackneyed  and  vulgar  expressions,  far  from  set- 
ting off  poetry,  rob  it  of  its  charm  and  therefore  are 
in  place  only  when  the  poet  wishes  to  attain  a  certain 
definite  end.f  Vulgar  expressions  like  agaso,  bala- 
tro,  catipOy  nebulo,  popino  certainly  occur  in  Horace, 
but  in  his  more  or  less  popular  works,  the  Satires  J 
and  the  Epistles;  the  portals  of  lyric  poetry  are 
closed  to  them;  we  may  look  for  them  in  vain  in  the 
Odes  and  Epodes.  A  genuinely  inspired  poet,  in 
whom  the  true  poetic  fire  burns  bright  and  clear, 
will  permeate  his  diction  with  harmony,  stateliness, 
and  purity;  and  noble  as  his  mind  and  intellect  will 
be  the  words  which  issue  from  his  mouth : 

Audebit,  quaecumque  parum  splendoris  habebunt 
Et  sine  pondere  erunt  et  honore  indigna  ferentur 
Verba  movere  loco,  quamvis  invita  recedant 
Et  versentur  adhuc  intra  penetralia  Vestae. 

(Hon  Ep.  ii,  2,  iii.) 

*  Cf.  Mackail,  "  Latin  Literature,"  p.  1 14.  "  In  his  measured 
epithets,  his  curious  fondness  for  a  number  of  very  simple  and 
abstract  words,  and  the  studious  simplicity  of  effect  in  his  most 
elaborately  designed  lyrics,  he  reminds  one  of  the  method  of 
Greek  bas-reliefs  or  ...  of  the  sculptured  work  of  Mino  of 
Fiesole." 

t  Such  as  characterization,  or,  again,  it  may  be  bathos. 

X  The  first  book  of  the  Satires  shows,  to  quote  Mr.  Mackail, 
"  a  vein  of  artistic  vulgarity  "  which  is  wanting  in  his  later  work. 


no     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 


65.  In  every  Literature  there  occur  a  large  num- 
ber of  expressions  which  are  exclusively,  or  almost 
exclusively,  confined  to  poetic  use.  These  expres- 
sions were  either  the  actual  creations  of  the  poets, 
as  many  ornamental  adjectives  certainly  were;  or 
else  they  came  in  course  of  time  to  be  specially 
favoured  for  the  purposes  of  poetry,  and  were  thereby 
maintained  as  living  factors  in  the  language  of  the 
poets,  while  they  disappeared  from  the  popular  lan- 
guage; such  are  for  instance  latices  and  lympha,  for 
"water."  It  were  an  interesting  task  to  trace  accur- 
ately the  conceptions  to  which  different  nations,  in 
their  poetical  vocabulary,  apply  such  special  words; 
such  a  quest  would  throw  many  an  interesting  side- 
light on  national  peculiarities.  It  is  characteristic  of 
German  that  the  words  Maid  and  Ross  are  con- 
trasted with  Mdcicken  and  Pferd\  *  we  recognize  in 
this  distinction  a  testimony  to  the  high  admiration 
for  woman  and  for  the  noblest  of  the  brute  creation 
entertained  by  Teutonic  peoples.  It  is  not  less  sig- 
nificant that  the  Hebrew  in  his  poetic  style  possesses 
special  words  to  express  the  name  of  God,  The 
lifework  of  Israel  lay,  in  fact,  in  religion;  the  main 
current  of  the  Semitic  spirit  set  not  towards  the 
world  with  its  manifold  external  phenomena,  but 
looked  beyond  this,  to  the  Godhead  itself.  Thus 
again,  the  Roman  possesses  two  words  for  the  sword, 
the  '^xos'SAZ  gladiiis  and  poetical  ensis.  It  would  thus 
appear  that  ideas  which  appeal  most  to  the  popular 
imagination  tend  to  lose  by  time  the  definiteness  of 

*  Much  as  "  wench  "  and  '*  nag  "  may  be  contrasted  with  "  girl " 
and  "  horse  "  in  EngUsh. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


III 


their  meaning,  and  are  the  first  to  suffer  from  the 
differentiation  between  the  diction  of  poetry  and 
prose. 

It  frequently  happens  that  the  difference  between 
poetical  and  prose  diction  consists  merely  in  the 
employment  of  a  different  suffix  as  pauperies  =pau' 
pertas\  iuventa  =  inventus  \  contagiuin  —  contagio\ 
oblivium  =  oblivio\  Graii  =  Graeci]  rabidtis  =  rabi- 
ostis'y  or  again  it  may  be  in  a  newly  formed  plural 
such  as  sibtla  =  sibili]  which  last,  as  it  could  find  no 
place  in  a  Hexameter,  may  be  due  to  metrical  exi- 
gences. 

66.  Besides  this,  foreign  influences  must  be  taken 
into  account.  As  the  German  looks  on  everything 
which  comes  from  '*  near  here  "  as  less  valuable  than 
what  comes  from  a  distance,  the  Roman  resembles 
him  in  the  preference  shown  by  Latin  authors  for 
Greek  snippets  rather  than  for  good  old  Latin  words. 
For  instance,  the  names  Tartarus  and  carbasus, 
whose  usage  instead  of  inferi  and  velum  is  reserved 
almost  exclusively  for  the  language  of  poetry,  hail 
from  Greece.  Besides,  Greek  expressions  fell  in 
most  cases  more  agreeably  on  the  ears  than  sounds 
of  home  origin.  Indeed,  Ouintilian  expressly  re- 
marks (xii,  10,  33):  **Tanto  est  sermo  Graecus 
Latino  iucundior  ut  nostri  poetae,  quoties  dulce 
carmen  esse  voluerunt  illorum  id  nominibus  exor- 
narent."  How  could  the  harmony  of  the  words  diota, 
barbitos,  philyra,  amystis,  and  the  varied  lights  and 
shades  of  their  liquid  vowels,  escape  the  notice  of  a 
writer  like  Horace? 


112     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

67.  The  second  main  requirement  of  the  poet  is 
Vividness  and  Perspicuity.*  "For  poetical  repre- 
sentation, keen  and  sharp-cut  outlines  and  subtlety 
of  reasoning  are  of  less  account  than  the  impression 
produced  on  the  mind  of  the  reader  and  the  fascina- 
tion produced  by  figurative  expression.  The  poet 
appeals  in  the  first  instance  to  the  heart;  his  crea- 
tions appeal  to  the  feelings  rather  than  to  the  under- 
standing; and  from  the  feelings  they  challenge  a 
lively  response.  The  prose  writer,  on  the  other 
hand,  appeals  first  and  foremost  to  intelligence;  his 
productions  challenge  careful  and  well-considered 
reflection.  It  follows  that  the  prose  writer  must 
choose  words  appropriate  to  the  subject,  such  as 
represent  the  subject  of  the  discourse  in  proper 
perspective; — he  must  express  himself  clearly  and 
logically,  for  his  object  is  to  produce  conviction. 
The  poet,  on  the  other  hand,  must  write  gracefully 
and  suit  his  style  to  his  subject.  He  must  write  with 
liveliness  and  observation,  and  the  form  of  his  dis- 
course must  be  graceful  and  must  appeal  to  the 
heart,  for  his  aim  is  to  give  pleasure. f  But,  we  may 
ask,  how  does  a  poet  attain  this  vividness  and  per- 
spicuity? It  may  be  that  he  brings  objects  directly 
before  our  view  by  means  of  picturesque  expression 

*  The  German  term  Anschatilichkeit  has  no  exact  English 
equivalent.  It  means  the  property  of  standing  out  boldly  before 
the  eye  or  mind  of  the  reader,  so  that  he  cannot  fail  to  visualize 
the  conception. 

t  Poetry  should  be  "  simple,  sensuous,  and  passionate"  (Milton). 
By  "sensuous"  is  meant  that  which  appeals  readily  to  the  senses, 
and  hence  poetry  prefers  picturesque  images  to  the  enumeration 
of  dry  facts.   (Abbot  and  Seeley,  p.  56.) 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


113 


or  action  dramatically  quickened  into  life,  or  it  may 
be  by  means  of  rhetorical  exaggeration  and  the 
effects  produced  by  contrast." 

68.  Forcible  pictures  are  gained  in  poetry  by 
the  use  of  picturesque  side-touches.  Much  that  in 
prose  would  be  omitted  as  superfluous  is  often  an 
indispensable  element  for  the  poet.  Thus  we  find, 
e.g.  in  Vergil  (Aen.  i,  614),  "ore  locuta  est'';  i,  94, 
*'  voce  refert " ;  i,  579,  **  animum  arrecti,"  and  in  other 
places  words  like  nianu,  ocmHs,  etc.,  which  appear  for 
the  sense  of  the  passage  superfluous.  We  may  add 
to  this  the  ornamental  adjectives  characteristic  of 
poetry,  which  resemble  dewdrops  sparkling  like 
diamonds  under  the  sun's  rays.  They  lend  a  mar- 
vellous charm  to  poetic  language  and  appeal  power- 
fully to  the  imagination,  for  by  bringing  out  the  most 
marked  characteristics  of  different  objects  they  force 
them  on  our  attention  in  the  most  striking  way."^ 
If  they  are  new  and  original  they  produce  a  greater 
effect  still.  In  this  respect  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  Roman  poets  are  somewhat  unfortunate;  they 
frequently  mutilate  what  they  have  found  in  their 
old  Greek  models,  and  thus  it  is  that  they  often  fall 
short  of  the  fine  observation  and  grace  of  the  cor- 
responding Greek  expression.  How  commonplace 
and  ineffective  appears  the  rendering  of  irrsposig  by 
ce/er;  of  vriig  ccfxcpieXio-a-oci  by  curvae  naves]  of  xaAAtppow 
TTOToifxu  by  fiumine  pulchro\  of  fiko(r/<puAAo?  by  silvis 

*  Cf.  such  instances  as  "the  dog  with  ivory  teeth"  (Cowper); 
"the  thunder  winged  with  red  lightning"  (Milton);  "reaped  in 
iron  harvests  of  the  field"  (Pope).   (Abbot  and  Seeley,  p.  58.) 


I 


114     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

coruscis  [or  by  frondosum  as  in  Catullus] :  or  again 
the  attributes  of  the  Homeric  heroes  [as  xopuSa/oAo?  (of 
Hector)  and  Ares]  are  poorly  rendered  by  cristatus, 
and  KocXXiTToip^iog  and  xaAAt7rAojca/xo?  \y^  ptdcher\  And 
how  different  the  effect  produced  by  nwV  i^^ykyua.  from 
Ovid's  imitation  in  "Aurora  vigil"  (Met.  ii,  112)! 

The  incomparable  beauty  of  the  Homeric  epithets, 
however,  depends  not  merely  upon  their  individual- 
izing power,  but  upon  their  comprehension  of  several 
traits  in  a  terse  and  pregnant  form.  Homer's  com- 
posite epithets  are  as  a  rule  more  graceful  than  his 
simple  ones,  and  the  skill  of  the  master-poet  displays 
itself  in  the  formation  of  such  compounds.  In  his  hap- 
piest moments  it  falls  to  the  creative  spirit  of  the 
singer  to  give  life  and  being  to  many  a  brilliant  union 
of  ideas,  embodied  in  a  word  found  in  no  dictionary, 
and  as  yet  unconsecrated  by  the  usage  of  language. 
Lessing  spoke  in  high  approval  of  Wieland's  happy 
power  of  coining  words ;  and  when  Schiller  speaks 
of  the  **  giftgeschwollene  Baiiche"  [venom  -  puffed 
bellies]  of  serpents,  or  of  "  leichtgeschiirzte  Horae  '* 
(gossamer-kirtled  Hours),  and  Goethe  of  "feucht- 
verklartes  Blau  "  (mist-transfigured  blue),  or  of  the 
"  wellenatmende  Mond"  (the  wave-panting  moon), 
we  can  at  once  in  such  epithets  as  these  recognize 
the  genius  of  the  true  poet,*  '*ex  ungue  leonem." 
Now  beyond  all  question  such  compounds  are  more 


Cf.: 


The  always-wind-obeying  deep 

With  rocks  unscaleable,  and  roaring  waters. 

The  multitudinous  seas. 

Shakespeare. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


115 


III 


striking  and  give  a  truer  picture  than  tactless  peri- 
phrases, and  they  are  certainly  terser  and  more 
easily  intelligible.  A  single  word  is  surely  more 
effective  than  a  series  of  several  words;  for  instance, 
poMoixTvXoq  is  more  striking  and  powerful  than  "plena 
rosarum "  (Ovid,  Met.  ii,  113).  We  cannot  then 
wonder  that  the  Roman  poets  from  the  earliest  times 
directed  their  efforts  to  the  task  of  rendering  their 
stiff  Latin  more  flexible  and  more  manageable.  Fol- 
lowing the  lead  of  Homer,  that  inexhaustible  source 
whence  all  the  epic  poets  of  Rome  have  drunk  deep, 
even  the  oldest  Roman  poets  created  a  series  of  new 
terminations,  and  from  that  time  the  Romans  pain- 
fully and  steadfastly  set  themselves  to  attain  what 
the  unfortunate  nature  of  their  language  denied 
them: 

Et  nova  fictaque  nuper  habebunt  verba  fidem,  si 
Graeco  fonte  cadent,  parce  detorta. 

HoR.  Ars  Poet.  52  s^^. 

The  epic  poets  since  Ennius  had  a  particular  fancy 
for  formations  which  owe  their  origin  to  the  influence 
of  dactylic  rhythm,  z>.,  words  which  in  the  second 
half  of  the  compound  began  with  a  short  syllable, 
and  were  mainly  derivatives  of  verbs  with  a  short 
stem-syllable,  as  for  instance  inag7iiloqtms\ — in  such 
a  case  we  can  see  that  a  dactyl  is  produced  by  the 
process  of  composition,  when  a  trochaic  precedes  it 
as  the  first  member  of  the  compound. 

69.  In  cases  where  the  poet  finds  that  a  mere 
epithet  fails  to  touch  our  fancy  he  likes  to  avail 
himself  of  a  fuller  presentation  of  the  idea,  e,g,^  of 


ii6  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

the  figure  called  **  Distributio  "  or  division  of  the 
parts  of  the  statement.  Thus  when  Vergil  wishes 
to  insist  on  the  fact  that  something  in  his  mind  will 
last  for  ever,  he  expresses  himself  (Aen.  i,  567)  in 
these  words : 

In  freta  dum  fluvii  current,  dum  montibus  umbrae 
Lustrabunt  convexa,  polus  dum  sidera  pascet, 
Semper  honos  nomenque  tuum  laudesque  manebunt, 

and  Ovid  (Met.  xv,  871)  repeats  the  same  thought: 
**  lamque  opus  exegi,  quod  nee  lovis  ira  nee  ignis 
Nee  poterit  ferrum  nee  edax  abolere  vetustas."  *  As 
we  know  from  Lessing's  ''  Laocoon,"  it  was  a  fine 
artistic  touch  of  Homer's  to  translate  the  description 
of  objects  into  action,  in  fact  to  change  co-existence 
into  sequence. 

Writers  like  Goethe  in  the  same  spirit  (e.^:,  in  the 
description  of  the  host  in  "  Hermann  und  Dorothea  ") 
followed  this  example.  Now  the  old  Romans  were 
completely  lacking  in  apprehension  of  this  fine  trait 
of  epic  technique,  and  although  they  read  Homer  as 
well  as  we  do,  they  devoted  their  utmost  efforts  to 
dry  descriptions  of  objects.  What  a  feeble  repro- 
duction of  the  famous  picture  of  Achilles'  shield  is 
the  corresponding  episode  of  the  eighth  book  of  the 
*'Aeneid"  (607-731)  with  its  ever-recurring  ''here 
is"  and  "there  is 'M 

Homer  presents  us  with  the  picture  of  Hephaestus, 
and  we  see  by  the  aid  of  his  master-hand  the  shield 


Cf.: 


Thou  mass  of  honour,  thou  King  Richard's  tomb, 
And  not  King  Richard:  thou  most  beauteous  inn,  etc. 

Shakespeare,  K.  Rich.  II. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


117 


ordered  by  Thetis  composed  and  welded  together. 
Vergil  tells  us  how  one  picture  after  another  is  seen 
on  the  work  of  art  he  is  describing.  It  is  worth  while 
to  compare  the  representation  given  by  the  same 
poet  of  the  door  of  the  Temple  of  Apollo  at  Cumae 
(Aen.  vi,  20  s^^.),  and  the  description  of  the  pictures 
in  the  temple  of  Juno  at  Carthage  (Aen.  i,  465  s^g.), 
or  the  sketch  of  the  sun-god  given  by  Ovid  (Met. 
ii,  I  s^^.):  and  we  shall  speedily  be  in  a  position  to 
judge  how  inferior  were  the  Romans  to  the  Greeks 
in  such  pictures. 

70.  Effective  expression  is,  however,  sometimes 
secured  by  figures  of  speech.  At  one  time  the  poet 
appeals  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader  or  hearer 
by  putting  a  part  for  the  whole:  2^^ ptippis,  carina,  or 
it  may  be  velurii,  for  an  entire  ship.  In  this  case  he 
appeals  to  the  reader  to  widen  by  his  own  efforts 
the  conception  presented  to  him.*  Sometimes  again 
the  poet  causes  the  hearer  to  apprehend,  say,  the 
idea  of  an  elephant  under  an  elephant  s  tooth,  while 
the  oak  tree  shrinks  in  his  description  down  to  an 
oak  leaf.  He  gives  us  the  ash  for  the  spear,  the 
gold  for  the  golden  vessels,  or  /lamina  for  heat,  lux 
for  day;  that  is  to  say  he  changes  the  agent  and  the 
object  acted  upon.  Just  as  Schiller  speaks  of  stones 
as  feeling,  of  nature  as  devout,  of  flight  as  hurrying, 
so  the   Roman  poet  endows  ears   and   arms  with 

*  This  very  effort  produces  a  sense  of  surprise  on  the  mind  of 
the  reader,  and  a  series  of  new  impressions  is  part  of  the  tech- 
nique of  poetry  in  general.  See  Herbert  Spencer's  "  Philosophy 
of  Rhetoric." 


I 


lli 


ii8  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

feeling  and  receptivity  when  he  sings  **  Auriculae 
gaudent  praenomine  "  or  "  brachia  gaudentia  loris." 
Inanimate  nature  assumes  life  before  his  mind's  eye: 
he  breathes  the  breath  of  life  into  all  that  surrounds 
him.* 

71.  It  is  true  that  even  in  their  treatment  of  these 
figures  of  speech,  the  Romans  must  be  ranked  far 
behind  their  kinsmen  the  Greeks.  They  are  most 
independent  and  most  original  in  the  employment 
of  Synecdoche,!  a  form  of  trope  employed  by  all 
poets  more  frequently  than  any  other.  There  was 
nothing  more  to  do  in  this  case  than  to  interchange 
two  conceptions  which,  as  a  rule,  stand  spatially  con- 
nected, and  thus  suggest  each  other.  Those  next  in 
frequency  are  metonymy  and  antonomasia,  the  tropes 
most  applicable  to  attributes  and  apposition.  In 
these  the  relation  of  the  conceptions  to  each  other  is 
somewhat  harder  to  gather,  as  it  does  not  present 
itself  immediately  to  the  mind.  Now  the  employment 
of  metonymy  must  be  admitted  to  be  a  little  mono- 
tonous, and  the  frequent  recurrence  of  Mars  for 
bellum,  of  Ceres  iov  frimienhim,  of  Liber  or  B ace htcs 
for  vinnvi,  of  Vulcanus  for  ignis,  of  Phoebits  for  Sol, 
of  Neretis  for  mare,  and  of  all  the  rest  of  the  deities 
who  have  to  be  marshalled  in  procession  whenever 
their  products  are  mentioned,  is  not  calculated  to 

*  The  English  reader  may  consult  Blair's  "  Lectures  on  Rhe- 
toric "(xiv),  *'on  the  origin  and  nature  of  figurative  language," 
and  Campbell's  "  Rhetoric,"  and  Whateley's  "  Rhetoric." 

t  See  Bain's  "English  Composition,"  p.  22,  for  numerous  in- 
stances of  these  figures  of  speech. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


119 


give  us  an  exalted  idea  of  the  imagination  of  the 
Roman  poets.*  The  violence  of  the  change  is  still 
more  felt  in  the  case  of  antonomasia.  The  Greek 
patronymics  are  extremely  useful  in  such  cases 
\e.g,y  Pelides  =  Achilles)',  we  may  set  against  these 
satus,  editus,  status  {e.g.,  Maia  7iatus^  Merctuntis), 
genus  {lapeti  genus  =  Prometkeus),  senex  Pylius  = 
Nestor,  filius  Anckisae  =  Aeneas,  fratres  Helenae  = 
Castor  and  Pollux,  etc. 

72.  The  invention  of  the  Roman  poets  appears 
poorer  than  ever  in  its  attempts  at  metaphors  and 
similes.  Setting  aside  the  cases  of  such  transfer- 
ences of  signification  as  it  shares  with  prose,  it 
possesses  but  a  scanty  stock  of  metaphors;  certainly 
such  cases  as  Aen.  vi,  i  sqq.,  where  they  are  regu- 
larly packed  together,  must  be  considered  rarities; 
much  that  we  find  in  the  poets  of  the  Augustan  age 
takes  its  origin  from  the  Alexandrine  poets.  The 
similes,  too,  are  in  many  cases  borrowed  direcdy 
from  the  Greek,  and  Father  Homer,  above  all  others, 
has  been  ransacked  for  the  purpose:  e.g.,  passages 
like  Aen.  i,  589  sqq.,  and  i,  498,  point  straight  to 
Odyssey,  vi,  232  sqq.,  and  vi,  102  sqq.  But  we 
cannot  describe  the  imitation  as  particularly  happy : 
it  appears  rather  artificial  and  forced.  How  far 
more  graceful  is  the  comparison  of  Nausicaa  sporting 
cheerfully  in  the  circle  of  her  playmates,  with 
Artemis  and  her  train  of  hunters  and  huntresses, 
than  that  of  Dido,  who,  mid  a  circle  of  men,  pro- 
ceeds to  the  temple  of  Justice,  with  the  Huntress- 

*  See  Bain,  p.  20,  "Figures  of  contiguity." 


Ill;' 
.*  i'l 


I20     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Goddess!    When  the  Roman  poets  stand  on  their 
own  ground  they  do  not  shrink  from  repeating  them- 
selves.  The  comparison  of  human  activity  with  the 
restless  activity  of  the  bees,  which  we  find  in  Aen.  i, 
430  sqq,,  is  repeated  by  the  poet  almost  word  for 
word  from  Georg.  iv,  162,  169.    Certain  similes,  as, 
for  instance,  where  a  hard  heart  is  likened  to  a  rock, 
or   to    iron,    occur   quite   frequently.    As    early   as 
Ennius  we  meet  with  (Fr.  loi)  ''quasi  ferrum  aut 
lapis  durat,"  and  (Fr.  174)  ^'lapideo  corde":   pos- 
sibly  after   the   pattern   of  the    Greek   tragedians 
(Eurip.  Medea,  29,  1279;  Andr.  537).    Ovid  offers 
similar  examples:  Met.  ix,  613;  vii,  32;  xiv,  712. 
Heroid.  7,  i^\   Trist.  i,  8,  41;  iii,  11,  3;  iv,  12,  31. 
In  like  manner  we  mark  the  recurrence  of  a  com- 
parison of  an  unfeeling  person  with  some  monster  of 
the  sea  such  as  Scylla  or  Charybdis,  or  with  some 
beast  such  as  a  lion  or  a  tiger;  such  are  frequently 
met  with  (cf.  Catull.  60,  i,  64,  154.    Ovid,  Met.  viii, 
120;  ix,  613;  vii,   32).    Besides  this  the  poets  fall 
not  unfrequently  into  the  fault  of  heaping  simile  on 
simile  in  a  single  passage;  and  they  not  seldom  run 
the  risk  of  wearying  their  readers  by  citing  strings  of 
examples. 

Tl,  In  one  class  of  figures  ot  speech  the  Romans 
surpass  their  Greek  masters,  namely,  in  allegory, 
and  in  the  personification  of  emotions  such  as 
Terror,  Desire,  Wrath.  Such  personifications  are 
much  in  favour  with  authors.  Indeed,  Herder 
goes  so  far  as  to  assign  to  Horace  as  a  special 
virtue  his  personification  of  abstract,  and  especially 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


121 


of  moral,  ideals:  e,g,,  Odes,  iii,  i,  14  '' Necessitas 
sortitur"  ("this  is  a  master  trait  of  his  genius,  and 
one  of  the  ornaments  of  his  odes ").  But  surely 
such  personifications  were  not  peculiar  to  Horace: 
other  writers  afford  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
examples  of  the  same  use  of  this  figure.  In  Tibul- 
lus  Spes,  Pax,  Mors,  Poena,  etc.,  in  Ovid  Cura, 
Alitor,  etc.,  appear  as  personified  beings :  and  the 
more  closely  we  scrutinize  Roman  literature  from 
its  origin  downwards,  the  more  we  find  the  pro- 
pensity developed  for  dead  abstraction  and  cold 
allegory.  Doubt,  Hunger,  Age,  Illness,  etc.,  find 
full  play  in  Silius,  Italicus,  Claudius,  and  his  con- 
temporaries. The  Italian  too  often  peoples  his 
Pantheon  with  bloodless  and  colourless  figures,  and 
similar  figures  compose  a  good  portion  of  his 
poetry. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  evident  that  the 
Roman  poets  were  not  endowed  with  the  vigor- 
ous imagination  or  the  versatility  and  cleverness  of 
the  Greeks,  but  that  they  devoted  themselves  to 
the  purely  intellectual  mental  processes  of  reflection 
and  abstraction.  Greek  poetry  is  a  delightful  garden 
provided  wath  an  abundance  of  Flora's  choicest 
products,  with  many-hued  and  joyous  nymphs  sport- 
ing around.  Roman  poetry  resembles  rather  a  well- 
tended,  tastefully  laid  out,  and  carefully  parcelled 
vegetable  garden. 

74.   If  Plastic*  in    language  serves  to  bring  an 

*  There  is  no  word  in  English  which  exactly  renders  the  Ger- 
man Plastik.    Perhaps  the  nearest  is  visualization.    It  means  the 


II 


122     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

object  nearer  to  our  view,  figures  of  augmentation 
and  contrast  are  employed  by  the  poets  to  magnify 
such  object,  and  to  render  it  more  sensible  to  our 
view.  Repetitio  (Anaphora),  Epizeuxis  or  Epana- 
lepsis,  Gradatio  (Climax),  Litotes,  Hendiadys,  Pleo- 
nasm, Hyperbole,  Polysyndeton,  Antithesis,  Chias- 
mus, Oxymoron,  and  many  other  figures,  all  tend  to 
the  same  end.  Where  the  prose  writer  says  *'  ubi 
secuit,  in  membra  redegit,'*  it  is  open  to  the  poet,  in 
order  to  bring  out  the  speedy  sequence  of  the 
actions  described,  to  use  the  pleonastic  expression, 
*'  secuit  sectamque  in  membra  redegit  "  (Ovid,  Met.  i, 
33).  Again,  Vergil,  with  characteristically  epic  re- 
dundance, writes  "  cavae  cavernae"  (Aen.  ii,  53), 
"  rursus  relegens"  (Aen.  ii,  690),  etc."^  This  kind 
of  pleonasm  is  not,  it  is  true,  specifically  Latin,  but 
it  is  a  prominent  characteristic  of  Roman  poetry, 
and  can  easily  be  explained  as  that  of  a  people  who 
have  from  the  earliest  times  busied  themselves  with 
the  study  of  jurisprudence,  and  who  have  accord- 
ingly accustomed  themselves  to  exact  and  lucid 
methods  of  expression. 

The  same  purpose  of  "  raising"  is  served  by  the 
frequent  use  of  concrete  nouns  in  the  plural  instead 
of  in  the  singular,  which  is  very  common  with  parts 
of  the  human  body,  such  as  colla,  corda,  pectora,  etc. ; 
objects  serving  for  traffic,  such  as  ctcrrtis,  arcus,  iuga, 
carinae,  and  designations  of  localities,  such  as  litora^ 

power  of  presenting  an  image  so  that  it  shall  stand  out  in  just 
perspective  and  bold  relief. 

*  Cf.  the  Jigura  etymologica  so  often  met  with  in  Plautus;   e.g,^ 
"Venus  venusta." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


123 


rttra,  sedes,  tecta  (cf.  P.  Maas,  ''  Studien  zum  poet- 
ischen  Plural,"  Wolfflin's  '' Archiv  f.  lat.  Lex."  xii, 
479  ^9Q^\  Ed.  Hailer,  *' Beitrage  zur  Erklarung 
des  poet.  Plur.  bei  den  rom.  Elegikern,  Freisinger 
Progr.,"  1902,  and  above,  §  27),  and  similarly  the 
employments  of  inille,  centum,  etc.,  for  a  number 
however  small.  Ordinary  mortals  may  find  it  neces- 
sary to  reckon  with  accuracy  the  sum  of  certain 
figures;  the  singer  does  not  worry  himself  about  such 
prosaic  trifles.  He  prefers  to  speak  in  round  num- 
bers in  order  to  increase  his  impressiveness:  mille 
lacer  spargcre  locis  is  the  prophecy  uttered  to  Pen- 
theus  in  Ovid's  "■  Metamorphoses"  (iii,  522),  and  to 
the  rainbow  a  thousand  hues  are  ascribed  (Aen. 
iv,  701).  No  scholar  will  take  exception  to  such  ex- 
aggerations on  the  score  of  his  more  exact  informa- 
tion, for  the  store  of  colours  in  the  broken  sunrays 
can  hardly  be  expressed  in  a  single  word  more  grace- 
fully than  it  is  here. 

The  figure  called  Litotes  was  a  very  favourite 
one  with  the  classical  poets :  it  occurs  frequently  in 
formulae  which  have  passed  from  generation  to 
generation;  e.g.,  *'non  dissimulator  amoris,"  Ov. 
Met.  V,  61;  ''cura  non  levis,"  Hor.  Carm.  i,  14,  18 
(cf.  C.  Weymann,  ''  Studien  liber  die  Figur  der 
Litotes,"  Jahrb.  f.  Phil.,  Supplem.  xv,  1887,  pp.  453- 
556).  The  Hyperbole  is  more  effective  still;  we  find 
it  in  Vergil  employed  on  a  far  more  extensive  scale 
than  in  Homer.  Sometimes  the  number  or  the  size 
is  exaggerated,  as  in  the  case  of  mountains,  rocks, 
trees,  vessels;  sometimes  the  qualities  of  human 
beinors  or  of  beasts — their   streno^th  or  swiftness — 


If 


11 


!|l 


124     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

sometimes  the  power  of  emotion  (cf.  R.  Hunziger, 
**DieFigur  der  Hyperbel  in  den  Gedichten  Vergils/' 
Berlin,  1896). 

75.  We  meet  very  frequently  with  allusions  to 
natural  monstrosities.  Such  allusions  depend  on  the 
Roman  taste  for  strong  contrasts  and  their  effects. 
This  taste  appears  strongly  developed  as  early  as 
the  Alexandrian  poets,  and  in  composers  of  idylls, 
like  Theocritus;  but  it  occurs  also,  though  more 
rarely,  in  Archilochus  (Fr.  76);  Euripides  (Medea, 
410,  etc.).  The  Romans  must  have  borrowed  from 
these  models,  as  is  clear  from  their  frequently  using 
identical  phraseology.  Thus  Naevius  (Bell.  Pun. 
fr.  inc.  1 1)  says :  "  prius  locusta  pariet  Lucam  bovem.'* 
In  Plautus  we  read  amongst  other  passages,  Poen. 
iii>  5»  31  •  "  lupo  agnum  eripere  postulant,"  Asin.  99: 
*'iubeas  me  piscari  in  aere,"  and  Asin.  79:  ''nudo 
detrahere  vestimenta '* :  in  Lucretius  (v,  128  [and 
878]) :  "  sicut  in  aethere  non  arbor,  non  aequore  salso 
Nubes  esse  queunt  neque  piscesvivere  in  arvis  Nee 
cruor  in  lignis  neque  saxis  succus  inesse.*  This  con- 
ception appears  again  and  again  in  varying  forms. 
The  other  figures  of  speech  also  had  become  part 
and  parcel  of  the  stock  phraseology  of  the  Roman 
people.  Their  genius  for  rhetoric  and  their  forensic 
training  alike  rendered  such  figures  indispensable 
adjuncts  even  to  their  poetry.    A  striking  turn  for 

*  Cf.  also  for  such  pictures  Hor.  Ars  Poetica,  1-5,  which  seems 
itself  to  have  been  borrowed  from  Plato's  "Phaedr."  p.  246 
(Jowett's  translation).  Cf.  also  Vergil's  picture  of  Scylla,  Aen. 
iii,  426,  and  of  the  Triton,  Aen.  x,  211. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


125 


oratorical  and  declamatory  pathos  manifested  itself 
even  in  the  Roman  poets  of  the  first  rank,  and  only 
too  often  hollow  phrases  and  empty  verbiage  took 
the  place  of  warm  and  genuine  feeling:  they  strove 
to  mask  their  shallow  thoughts  and  their  lack  of 
profundity  by  pompous  pretentiousness  and  mere- 
tricious ornament. 

76.  Of  course  different  writers  have  their  own 
peculiarities :  Vergil  and  Propertius  display  a  marked 
tendency  towards  parallelism,"^  resembling  that  found 
in  Hebrew  poetry,  and  they  thus  enable  us  to  ap- 
proach an  idea  from  different  sides :  no  one  surpasses 
Propertius  in  rhetorical  questions  and  in  the  figure 
of  Apostrophe :  the  Hendiadys,  of  which  we  meet  but 
a  single  example  in  Propertius  (iii,  4,  9),  meets  us 
often  in  the  poems  of  Vergil.  We  find  the  figure 
QCTTo  xoii/ou  more  frequently  in  Horace  than  in  other 
poets.  The  effective  dismemberment  of  a  conception 
into  its  parts,  or  of  an  occurrence  into  its  separate 
stages  is  a  characteristic  of  the  technique  of  Tibul- 
lus :  t  Ovid — not  to  mention  the  comic  poets — is 
fond  of  plays  upon  words. J 

Naturally  all  these  rhetorical  accessories  give  the 

*  Cf.  Postgate's  "Propertius,  Select  Elegies,"  p.  Ixxi.  An  in- 
stance is:  "sive  illam  Hesperiis  sive  illam  ostendet  Eois,  Uret  et 
Eoos,  uret  et  Hesperios." 

t  A  peculiarity  of  Tibullus  is  that  an  epithet  which  belongs  to 
each  of  a  group  of  nouns  is  sometimes  expressed  once  only,  and 
then  with  the  last  noun,  as  i,  i,  32,  "messes  et  bona  vina  date," 
Le.,  "  messes  bonas  et  vina  bona."   See  Postgate,  ad  loc. 

X  Cf.  Met.  xiii,  "  Non  oblita  animorum,  annorum  oblita  suorum  " 
=  "  forgetting  her  age  but  not  her  rage,"  as  Simmons  renders  it. 
Other  instances  are  Tristia,  i,  16  j  ii,  16;  and  iv,  5,  7. 


Ill 


ii 


126     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

language  the  appearance  of  artificiality.  The  expres- 
sion seems  too  often  cold  and  affected:  the  verve 
that  springs  from  the  heart  in  Greek  poetry  is  felt 
to  be  lacking.  Just  as  the  Romans  fell  below  the 
Greeks  in  their  power  of  creating  life-like  figures  out 
of  blocks  of  marble,  so  did  they  miss  the  secret  of 
drawing  living  harmonies  from  language. 

77.  The  third  main  law  of  the  diction  of  poetry  is 
Naturalness.  The  poet  may  be  as  childishly  simple 
as  Homer,  or  he  may  awake  pathos  as  Horace  has 
done  in  his  Odes:  in  no  case  should  his  language 
suggest  the  result  of  deep  thought  or  appeal  to  the 
intellect  alone.  No  one  in  periods  of  high  emotion 
thinks  of  speaking  in  orderly  and  artificially  grouped 
periods :  and  in  the  language  of  the  poet,  the  logic 
which  marshals  facts,  the  care  which  disposes  them, 
the  intellect  which  weighs  them  and  calculates  their 
consequences,  should  remain  unseen.  The  tendency 
to  employ  simple  and  uncomplicated  constructions 
corresponds  with  the  effort  after  easiness  of  com- 
prehension and  plainness  of  expression.  The  lan- 
guage of  poets  moves  by  preference  in  main  sentences 
(cf.  Aen.  i,  402:  ''Dixit  et  avertens  rosea  cervice 
refulsit";  i,  438:  **  Aeneas  ait  et  fastigia  suspicit 
urbis  ").  The  free  use  of  adjectives  {e.^:,  Aen.  i,  208 : 
"curisque  ingentibus  aeger*'  = '*quamquam  curis  in- 
gentibus  aeger  erat '')  *  and  the  preference  for  par- 

*  For  a  more  striking  instance  still  see  Lucan  "Pharsalia,"  ii, 
231  sqq. :  *'  Neuter  civilia  bella  moveret  Contentus  quo  Sulla  fuit ": 
"Neither  Caesar  nor  Pompey  would  begin  Civil  War  //  they  were 
content  with  what  contented  Sulla." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


127 


ticiples  instead  of  subordinate  sentences  lends  their 
phrases  an  impressive  terseness:  clumsy  gerundial 
constructions  are  avoided  where  possible,  and  final 
sentences  have  a  tendency  to  be  replaced  by  an  in- 
finitive. Co-ordination  in  their  sentences  is  some- 
times used  instead  of  subordination ;  the  connections 
of  the  sentences  therefore  resemble  a  long-drawn 
chain,  in  which  link  is  joined  to  link:  while  the  rhe- 
torical and  historical  periods  remind  us  rather  of  a 
closely  welded  ring  which  fastens  all  parts,  great  or 
small,  in  orderly  and  precise  sequence  in  a  single  and 
well-arranged  whole.  Where  the  prose-writer  would 
say  *'ubi  corripuere,  ruunt,"  Vergil  says  (Aen.  v,  145): 
**corripuere  ruuntque"  (cf.  ix,  410:  "dixerat  et  .  .  . 
conicit  ")  :  and  instead  of  "  cum  inversum  "  we  often 
find  ecce  {e.g.,  "certum  est  dare  lintea  retro;  ecce  au- 
tem,''  Aen.  iii,  686).*  Sometimes  we  meet  with  a 
simple  parataxis  as  *'iam  Lucifer  surgebat:  cessi," 
Aen.  ii,  801  sqq,  (cf.  alsovii,  621;  viii,  83;  ix,  432).  A 
lengthy  period  of  oratio  obliqua  is  suitable  enough 
for  the  historian,  but  for  the  poet  it  is  too  ponderous. 

78.  Though  it  is,  generally  speaking,  true  that 
the  Roman  poets  have  held  by  the  principles  men- 
tioned, there  are  still  many  passages  in  their  works 
which  might  seem  to  support  the  contrary  view. 
Too  frequently  they  succumb  to  the  innate  weak- 
ness of  the  Roman  writers,  the  habit  of  moralizing 
(cf.  Aen.  iii,  496;  iv,  14).  The  Odes  of  Horace 
leave  the  impression  of  being  constructed  to  order 

*  Where  we  should  expect  some  such  expression  as  "When 
suddenly." 


Ill 


128  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

from  a  turner^s  workshop.  Thus  we  find  these  are 
written  with  due  regard  paid  to  the  method  of  jom- 
incr  sentences  In  prose:  even  such  conjunctions  as 
are  usual  in  the  case  of  syllogisms,  such  as  ergo 
and  quodsi*  are  not  rarely  found  in  these  composi- 
tions. .  . 
Dovetailing  his  sentences  again  is  a  characteristic 

trait  of  Horace:  we  often  find  all  kinds  of  paren- 
thetical insertions  just   as  in  the   artistically  con- 
structed  periods  of  the  historian,  so  that  the  poet 
seems  to  have  written  his  Strophes  rather  for  the 
eye  than  the  ear.   Of  all  the  Augustan  poets  Horace 
stands  in  his  language  nearest  to  the  prose-writers. 
In   Vergil's   poetry   we    often    find    long    periods, 
especially  in   the  speeches   of    the  persons   intro- 
duced as  actors;  and  the  elegiac  poets  have  uninter- 
mittently  striven,  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  distich,  to  render  their  language  more  and  more 
flexible     Propertius  was  the  first  to  achieve  a  fair 
success  in  closing  the  thought  with  the  close  of  the 
pentameter,  t 

*  Cf  Lucretius,  who  abounds  with  such  conjunctions  as  igitur 
quandoquidem^  proinde.  He,  at  any  rate,  never  strives  to  conceal 
"the  logic  which  marshals  facts";  and  he  is  wont  to  recapitulate 
the  results  of  long  passages  in  a  few  short  lines-a  ^^etoncal  trait^ 
His  scrupulous  endeavour  to  be  circumstantial,  causmg  him  to 
repeat  such  phrases  as  ut  docui,  quod  quoniam  docut,  sometimes 
reminds  one  of  a  legal  document;  another  aspect  in  which  he  is 

typically  Ro^^^^^^^^^  "Select  Elegies,''  chap.  iv.  "Propertius^ 
general  superiority  in  vigour  and  variety  to  Tibullus  appears  m 
their  versification.  That  of  Tibullus  is  hardly  ever  impressive, 
and  is  apt  sometimes  to  become  monotonous.  Both  in  hexameter 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


129 


79.  The  fourth  and  last  quality  peculiar  to  poetry 
consists  in  its  greater  freedom  from  the  restrictions 
which  rule  the  composition  of  prose.  In  the  first 
place  the  poet  enjoys  a  greater  licence  in  the  position 
of  his  words  than  the  prose-writer.  In  the  case  of 
modern  languages  this  holds  true  in  certain  cases 
only,  but  in  ancient  languages,  in  which  the  reten- 
tion of  the  full  terminations  aided  quick  appre- 
hension of  the  meaning,  and  in  which  the  close 
relationship  of  the  several  clauses  could,  without 
trouble,  be  discovered,  the  greatest  licence  prevailed. 
To  emphasize  very  strongly  two  connected  concep- 
tions, the  poets  not  uncommonly  inserted  words 
so  that  the  adjectival  attribute  formed  the  com- 
mencement and  the  substantive  the  end  of  the 
verse:  indeed,  they  even  postponed  the  subject, 
when  particular  stress  was  to  be  laid  upon  it,  to  the 
end  of  the  sentence,  and  at  the  same  time  to  the 
beginning  of  a  verse.  For  instance  in  Ovid's  Met. 
ii,  818,  the  three  words  ste77ms  isto  pacto  are 
parted  by  the  words  introducing  the  oratio  recta 
so  that  the  verse  runs:  '' Steinus''  ait  ^' pacto'''  velox 
Cyllenius  ^^istoT  Again,  by  placing  monosyllabic 
words  at  the  end  of  the  hexameter  the  impression 
of  contrast  is  insisted  upon,  or  some  artificial  aim 
attained,  e.g,,  **  parturiunt  montes,  nascetur  ridiculus 
mus."  ^  In  short  the  poet,  by  the  freedom  granted 
him  in  the  arrangement  of  his  words,  has  the  privi- 

and  pentameter  Propertius  shows  a  freer  structure  than  Tibullus, 
and,  we  need  not  add,  than  Ovid." 

*  "Procumbit  humi  bos."   Cf.  also  Verg.  Aen.  i,  105,  "Prae- 
ruptus  aquae  mons." 

K 


I30     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

lege  of  a  method  whereby  he  attains  marvellous 
effects,  assuming  that  he  is  capable  of  employing 
them  artistically. 

80.  The  poet  enjoys  one  further  privilege;  he  can 
employ  archaisms  much  more  widely  than  the  prose- 
writer;  he  can  overleap  many  barriers  which  from  a 
linguistic  point  of  view  divide  different  ages.     The 
historian,  the  orator,  the  prose-writer  generally,  are 
fairly  circumscribed  by  these.    Just  as  at  the  present 
day  we  seek  by  every  means  to  maintain  and  to 
protect  against  wind  and  weather  ruins  hoary  with 
age  and  rich  in  story,  which  rise  from  the  smiling 
landscape  silent  witnesses  of  ages   long  past  and 
gone:    so  do  poets,  more  or  less  in  their  degree, 
aim  at  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  waifs  and  strays 
of  language    which    linger   in  the   diction  of   the 
ancient   singers.    The   diction  of  poets  is    conser- 
vative :  it  cherishes  and  loves  antique  forms  from  a 
feeling  of  piety  and   discipline,  especially  as  such 
forms  generally  possess  a  fuller  and  more  power- 
ful   sonority  and    lend  a  romantic   flavour  to    the 
vehicle  of  verse.    Many  obsolete  words,  many  forms 
which  in  prose  are  superannuated,  and  have  passed 
out  of  use,  are  again  introduced  to  language  from  an 
older  period  and  restored  to  life.     Klopstock  has 
the  merit  of  having  introduced  anew  into  the  Ger- 
man language,  under  English  influence,  words  from 
older  stages  of  German,  as  Halle,  Hain,  Elf,  Heim, 
Harm\2Si^  Uhland  has  quickened  words  like  Gadem, 
balcony,  Fej^gc,  ferryman,  pirschen,  to  stalk  game, 
Wat,   garment,   Bracke,   hound,  fahen=fangen,  to 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


131 


catch,  lobesam,  \di\idi2h\e,gemacksam,  comfortable,  into 
new,  though  artificial,  life. 

81.  Horace,  true  to  his  maxim:  ''Multarenascentur, 
quae  jam  cecidere  "  (Ars  Poet.  70),  recalls  old  words 
like  altercari  (Sat.  ii,  7,  57)  and  indecorare  (Od.  iv, 
4,  36).  Again,  words  like  divus,  civicus,  and  hosticuSy 
which  occur  again  and  again  in  the  Augustan  poets, 
had,  except  in  certain  combinations  such  as  divi 
manes,  corona  civica,  in  hostico,  almost  fallen  into 
disuse.  Well-known  words  meet  us  again  with 
meanings  which  had  long  disappeared  from  the  living 
language:  ^  such  as  templum  (Aen.  iv,  484)  =  refMsvog: 
aptus,  Aen.  iv,  482  =  fitted  on  to,  armed:  quiescere  in 
Aen.  iv,  523,  and  in  other  places,  is  used  inchoatively 
after  the  analogy  of  other  verbs  in  -sco'.  orare  stands 
in  its  original  meaning  ''to  speak,"  Aen.  x,  96;  vii, 
446,  etc. 

Old  forms  of  words,  too,  are  saved  from  total 
disappearance  by  the  language  of  the  poet.  In 
German  the  use  of  certain  such  words  is  allowed  to 
poets,  but  not  to  prose-writers.  Such  words  are 
zuruckey  gesckwinde,  I/er2e=M.H,G,   zerucke,  (ge) 

*  For  several  instances  of  such  words  see  Heerdegen,  "  Ueber 
historische  Entwicklung  lateinischer  Wortbedeutungen,"  Erlangen, 
1 88 1.  He  shows,  Part  III,  p.  18,  that  the  use  of  orare  was  already 
in  Plautus'  time  an  archaism,  and  that  the  way  in  which  it  came 
to  mean  to  "  beg  "  or  "  pray  "  was  the  fact  that  orare  in  the  sense 
of  "to  speak "^  was  commonly  joined  with  Jus  and  aequum.  Cf. 
Livy,  39,  40,  12,  "ipse  pro  se  oraverit  scripseritque,"  referring  to 
Cato  the  Elder. 

^  The  older  sense  remains,  of  course,  in  orator. 


I 


132     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

swinde,  herze\  they  prefer  such  forms  as  wob  and 
ward  to  webte  and  warde,  and  they  employ  the  forms 
Bande  and  Lande  side  by  side  with  Bander  and 
Lander."^  In  the  same  way  it  is  a  favourite  device 
with  Horace  to  use  words  which  in  their  form  affect 
an  archaic  look :  such  are  cupressus,  intMnius,  oplumus, 
proxumtis,  lacrumosus,  formonsus,  thensaurus,  lavere, 
sectarier,  gnaius,  mi=  mihiy  caldior  =  calidior,  surpite 
=  surripiiey  surrexe  =  surrexisse  \  and  Vergil  com- 
mits himself  to  such  forms  as  olli  =  Hit,  quis  =  quibus, 
impete  =  impeiu,  faxo,  accestis,  accingier,  fervere,  ceu^ 
asty  etc.,  all  with  the  view  of  investing  his  epic  with 
an  old-world  colouring.  Then  the  poets  use  simple 
instead  of  compound  forms,  to  excite  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  reader,  who  has  accordingly  to  puzzle 
out  for  himself  what  is  ordinarily  expressed  by  the 
preposition:  thus  words  like  piare,  solari,  tabere, 
temnere,  linquere,  suescere,  tender e,  etc.,  have  main- 
tained themselves. 

[In  late  Latin  grammarians,  such  as  the  one  who 
calls  himself  Vergilius  Maro,  we  actually  find  forms 
V^'t  sidera  =  considera^^  Active  verbs  again  appear 
taking  the  place  of  the  more  ordinary  deponents: 
thus  populant  (Aen.  iv,  403) :  on  which  Servius  re- 
marks "  Populant  antique  dixit ;  nam  hoc  verbum 
apud  ueteres  activum  fuit,   nunc  autem  deponens 

*  See  Abbot  and  Seeley,  "The  Diction  of  Poetry,"  p.  55. 
"The  antique  and  venerable  associations  which  connect  them- 
selves with  everything  that  is  ancient,  contain  in  themselves  suffi- 
cient reason  why  archaic  words  should  linger  in  elevated  poetry. 
From  such  considerations  as  these  Spenser  employed  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  '  Faery  Queene '  a  diction  which  was  almost  as 
archaic  to  his  contemporaries  as  it  is  to  us." 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


133 


est '' ;  and  who  can  deny  that  the  old  imperfect  forms 
mollibat  (Ovid,  Met.  viii,  199),  nutribat  (Aen.  vii, 
485),  lenibat  (Aen.  vi,  468),  and  that  such  forms  as 
saecla,  vincla^  oracla,  with  m  slurred  and  omitted,  are 
stronger  and  more  effective,  and  hence  more  fitted 
to  heroic  Epic  poetry  than  the  corresponding  forms 
common  in  prose:  saecula,  vincula,  oracula^ 

Who  can  deny  that  the  genitive  in  -urn  in  the  first 
and  second  declension,  the  accusative  in  -is  in  the 
third  declension,  and  the  perfect  form  in  -re  instead 
of  -runt  give  the  language  a  more  stately  stamp  ? 

82.  Often  considerations  of  metre  come  into  play. 
In  German^  the  unrelenting  bond  of  rhyme  has  pro- 
tected and  preserved  many  an  old  formation  which 
would  otherwise  have  fallen  into  oblivion.  Roman 
poetry,  however,  which  makes  but  spare  use  of 
rhyme,  has  preserved  many  forms  from  the  fact  that 
they  fitted  into  the  strict  framework  of  the  dactylic 
metre.  Thus  we  find  that  in  many  cases  the  long 
vowels  are  maintained  in  verbal  and  nominal  ter- 
minations. For  the  same  reason  Vergil  forms  the 
genitive  plurals  of  participial  and  other  noun  forms 
in  -ns  exclusively  in  -um  instead  of  -turn,  as  moder- 
antum,  legentum ;  and  thus,  under  the  stress  of  the 
demands  of  metre,  he  selects  the  old  consonantal 
stems.  But  the  demands  of  metre  suggested  other 
expedients  as  well :  for  as  Cicero  has  said.  Or.  202 : 
'*  Poetae  in  numeris  quasi  necessitati  parerecoguntur." 
Cf.  Quintil.  i,  6,  2;  viii,  6,  17.  Vowels  again  are 
shortened,  lengthened,  or  suppressed;  for  instance 

*  And  in  a  less  degree  in  English,  e.g^  abideth,  guideth. 


134  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

we  read  in  Vergil  constiterunt  (Aen.  iii,  68 1)  for 
constiterunt,  relligio  iox  religio  (Aen.  xii,  182),  aspris 
for  asperis  (Aen.  ii,  379).  The  forms  imperator  and 
imperare  are  brought  into  verse  by  Ennius  [Juvenal 
and  others]  by  the  employment  of  induperator  and 
induperare\  by  Accius  and  Lucretius  by  that  of 
imperitare:  for  magnitudo  Accius  writes  magnitas, 
Lucretius  maximitas  [and  Auct.  Carm.  de  Phoenic. 
1 45,  magniHes] :  for  beneficia  Catullus  writes  bene/acta ; 
for  eloquentia  Horace  (Ars  Poet.  2 1 7)  writes  eloquium 
as  did  Vergil  (Aen.  xi,  383) ;  for  supervacaneumWox2s:^ 
(Od.  ii,  20,  24)  writes  supervacuum  (so  again  Ars  Poet. 
337;  Epist.  i,  15,  3);  so  for  the  oblique  cases  of 
adulter  those  of  moeclms  are  substituted  (cf  "  Archiv 
fur  lat.  Lexicogr."  xii,  435)-  Then  there  are  certain 
typical  and  standing  phrases  or  collocations  of  words 
which  are  handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, and  become  current  coin :  indeed,  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  the  Roman  poets  have  not 
plundered  the  stores  of  their  predecessors  more 
effectually  than  those  of  any  other  country.  Forms 
found  in  Ennius  like  Caernla  caeli  recur  in  Lucretius, 
Vergil,  and  others,  and  frequently  in  the  very  part 
of  the  verse  which  they  occupied  in  the  original. 
Thus  the  words  "  haec  ubi  dicta  dedit,"  which  Vergil 
borrowed  from  Ennius,  open  a  verse  in  Vergil,  and 
have  even  passed  into  Livy  s  prose,  in  which  they 
open  a  sentence  (xxii,  50).  Thus  Statins  (Silv.  iii, 
I,  15)  takes  over  Vergil's  formula  **Cernere  erat" 
(rii/  \h^iy)  and  uses  it  at  the  opening  of  a  verse: 
thus  again  there  occurs  an  Epic  formula  conditioned 
by  the  metre,  in  the  case  of  the  perfect  participle 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


135 


passive  coupled  with  the  oblique  case  of  a  word  of 
two  syllables  occurring  at  the  end  of  a  verse,  as 
"dilecta  sorori"  (Verg.  Aen.  iv,  31),  ''obsessacolono" 
(Tibul.  iv,  I,  139),  *' Exterrita  somno,"  ''concita 
cursu,"  etc.  Thus  Valerius  Flaccus,  after  the  model 
of  Aen.  vi,  273,  '^primis  in  faucibus  Orci,"  writes 
"primis  stant  faucibus  Orci,"  i,  784;  after  Aen.  viii, 
25,  '^summique  ferit  laquearia  tecti,"  v,  243  "per 
summi  fulgor  laquearia  tecti"  (cf  A.  Gruneberg, 
"De  Valerio  Flacco  imitatore,"  Berlin,  1893,  P-  52» 
sqq).  Few  nations  feel  the  influence  of  tradition 
and  imitation  so  strongly  as  the  Romans;  in  few  is 
individualism  so  feebly  developed. 

83.  Finally  we  have  to  range  under  this  head 
syntactical  archaisms.  As  such  are  to  be  counted  the 
use  of  the  simple  accusative  and  ablative  in  answer 
to  the  questions  whither  and  whence,  in  the  case  of 
words  which  are  not  names  of  towns ;  and  again  the 
dative  of  the  direction  whither  ["  It  clamor  caelo  " 
Verg.],  which  has  maintained  itself  in  the  language 
of  the  poets,  especially  in  the  case  of  such  common 
conceptions  as  Heaven,  Orcus,  earth,  sea,  Olym- 
pus, etc. 

84.  On  the  other  hand  innovations,  or  neologisms, 
appear  in  the  language  of  the  poets.  These  new 
turns  given  to  language  manifest  themselves  in  the 
formation,  the  signification,  and  the  syntax  alike  of 
words.  We  remember  that  Horace  proudly  claims 
the  right  of  the  poet  to  enrich  his  native  language, 
"  Ego  cur,    acquirere  pauca   Si   possum,   invideor, 


136     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

cum   lingua    Catonis  et   Enni    Sermonem   patrium 
ditaverit  et  nova  rerum  Nomina  protulerit?    Licuit 
semperque  licebit  Signatum  praesente  nota  producere 
nomen"  (Ars  Poet.  55),  and  '*  adsciscet  nova,  quae 
genitor  produxeritusus"  (Ep.  ii,  2, 119).  And  without 
a  doubt  most  of  the  Latin  poets  have  availed  them- 
selves of  this  right.    As  has  been  remarked  before, 
the  Latin  writer  felt  the  lack  of  compound  adjectives, 
those  almost  indispensable  auxiliaries  to  the  poet 
for  the  embellishment  of  his  diction.    Hence  since 
Ennius  it  was  the  aim  of  poets  to  supply  this  need 
as  best  they  could.    It  is  not  unlikely  that  altitonans 
was  a  word  coined  by  Ennius,  arcitenens  by  Nae- 
vius,  magnisonus  by  Accius,  frugiferens  by  Lucre- 
tius, suaveolens  by  Catullus,  blandiloquens  by  Lab- 
erius,  auricomans  by  Vergil,  centimanMs  by  Horace, 
racemifer  by  Ovid :  these  words  appear  for  the  first 
time  in  their  respective  works.    But  it  would  take  us 
too  far  were  we  to  attempt  to  submit  all  such  ex- 
pressions to  close  scrutiny:  so  we  content  ourselves 
with  pointing  out  a  list  of  such  similar  formations  as 
Ennius    himself  offers    us.     We  find  besides  ^//Z- 
/^^^«^  mentioned  above:  velivolis  A.  381,  saxifragis 
A.  564,  altisonus  A.  561,  bellicrepa  A.    105,  caeli" 
colum  A.  483,  doctiloqtti  A.  568,  dulciferae  A.  71, 
Jlammiferam  Tr.  50,  nwrtiferum  Tr.  363,  opiferam 
Tr.    165,  lanigerum  Sat.   42,  belligerantes  A.   201, 
altivolans  A.  84,  bellipotentes^  Sapientipotentes  A.  188, 
omnipotens  Tr.    202,  bipatentibus  A.    62,    blandilo^ 
qMentia  Tr.   305,  signitenentibus  Tr.   132,  velivolan- 
tibus  Tr.  89.    On  the  other  hand,  we  must  not  pass 
over  the  final  portions  of  the  composite  words  most 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


137 


frequently  in  use,  especially  as  they  lend  the  words 
their  typical  stamp,  and  set  the  stereotyped  patterns 
of  word-formation  to  which  the  following  genera- 
tions of  Roman  poets  conform :  for  the  latter  made 
it  their  object  not  so  much  to  find  new  derivative 
syllables,  as  to  connect  these  with  new  word-stems. 
The  following  are  the  principal  of  these:  sonus, 
loquusy  volus,  genus,  fragus,  comus,  ficus,  dtcus, 
sequus,  rapus,  capus,  legus,  fugus,  petus,  paruSy 
graduSy  spicus,  vagus,  premus,  vomus,  iugus,  terus, 
creptiSy  fer,  ger,  canens,  potens,  parens,  volans,  manus, 
color,  modus,  etc.  The  poets  of  the  Augustan  and 
of  the  post- Augustan  periods  followed  the  precedent 
of  the  older  poets,  so  that  a  large  number  of  new 
formations  arose,  modelled  on  the  pattern  of  those 
already  in  use. 

Thus,  to  quote  a  single  example,  Latin  literature 
displays  about  1 70  compounds  ending  in  fer,  and 
about  80  in  ger,  of  which  the  following  make  their 
first  appearance  in  the  Aeneid:  calli-,  com-,  fait-, 
fumi-,  legi',  niali-,  olivi',paci',  somni-,  sopori''fer\  alt-, 
turri-ger;  while  Ovid  shows  29  new  formations  in 
fer,  and  9  in  ger,  which  the  following  words  seem 
to  be  employed  by  him  alone :  aerifer,  alifer,  artm- 
difer,  bipemiifer,  caducifer,  chimaerifer,  corymbifer, 
cupressifer,  gramifer,  herbifer,  papyrifer,  populifer, 
racemifer,  sacrifer,  securifer^  taedifer,  tridentifer, 
turrifer\  bicorniger,  penatiger,  tridentiger. 


85.  Composition  was  not,  however,  the  only  pro- 
cess whereby  new  words  were  created;  derivation 
played  its  part  as  well.    In  this  process  also  Cicero 


138     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

assigns  greater  liberty  to  the  poets  than  to  the 
orators.  He  writes,  Or.  20,  68 :  "  Ego  autem,  etiamsi 
quorundam  grandis  et  ornata  vox  est  poetarum, 
tamen  in  ea  .  .  .  licentiam  statuo  maiorem  esse 
quam  in  nobis  faciendorum  iungendorumque  ver- 
borum."  Thus  Horace  forms  from  cinctus  the  ad- 
jective cincttihis  (Ars  Poet.  50),  from  iuvenis  the 
verb  iuvenari  (Ars  Poet.  246),  from  ampulla,  am^ 
pMllari{Ep.  i,  3,  14);  Vergil  among  others gestamen, 
affatusy  latrator,  nimbosMS,  fumetis,  cristatus,  crinalis, 
stridulus^  sternax,acervare\  Ovid  is  particularly  fond 
of  coining  new  adjectives  in  -alis,  -abili:,  -ens,  -osus, 
and  verbal  substantives  in  us  of  the  fourth  declen- 
sion, as  well  as  in  -amen  and  -imen,  which  lend 
themselves  better  to  the  exigences  of  metre  than 
those  in  -atio  and  4tio,  e,g.,  pacalis,  agitabilisy  dubita- 
bilis,  narratus,  simulamen:  Martial  has  celebrator, 
dormitor,  esuritor,  panariolum,  Greek  terminations, 
too,  are  attached  to  Latin  stems,  and  in  this  way 
hybrid  stems  were  created  as  Sciptddes  (Lucr.  iii, 
1032,  etc.),  Memmtddae  (Lucr.  i,  26),  Stoicidae  (Juv. 
ii,  65). 

86.  Further,  the  poet  possesses  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  novelties  in  the  domain  of  word-significa- 
tion. In  this  process  he  may  give  free  rein  to  his 
fancy:  he  may  exhibit  his  poetical  genius  in  the 
most  brilliant  way,  "  Dixeris  egregie,  notum  si 
callida  verbum  Reddiderit  iunctura  novum"  (Ars 
Poet.  47).  Horace  himself  gives  in  the  same  Ars 
Poetica,  verse  49,  an  example  of  this  maxim  in  the 
use  of  indicium.    Again,  such  terms   as   corripere 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


139 


viam  (Verg.  Aen.  i,  418)  are  new, as  are  exigere  "to 
beg  news'*  (Aen.  i,  309),  7nemorare  (Aen.  i,  631), 
resequi{Ov.  Met.  vi,  36)  ''to  answer":  the  important 
question  of  metaphors,  too,  comes  into  considera- 
tion in  this  connection. 


87.  Side  by  side  with  these  changes,  the  syntax 
of  the  poets  was  enriched  by  a  larger  number  of 
new  constructions.     They  often  seem  purposely  to 
make  a  new  departure  from  the  methods  of  prose- 
writers:    otherwise    what    reason    was    there    for 
changing  the  moods  followed  respectively  by  qua7n- 
quam  and  quamvis,  and  connecting  the  latter  with 
the  indicative,  and  the  former  with  the  conjunctive? 
For  what  other  possible  reason  could  Catullus,  Ti- 
bullus,    Propertius,   and    Horace    have    purposely 
avoided  tttrum  .  .  .  ait,  and  have  substituted  an  ,  .  . 
an,  ne  .  .  .  ne,  or  Vergil  have  written  sen  .  .  .  sen 
(Aen.  i,  287,  etc.),  requirunt  .  .  .  sett  vivere  credent, 
sive  extrema pati}  In  most  cases  such  novel  methods 
of  expression  are  analogical  formations  after  ancient 
Roman  or  Greek  models,  though  it  is  often  hard 
to  trace  the  exact  source  of  the  thought  that  in- 
spired the  innovation.    It  was  once  the  fashion  to 
explain  these  new  phenomena  in  language  as  due 
solely  to  Greek  influence;   at  present  there  is  an 
inclination   to   fall    into   the   opposite   mistake,    of 
referring  these  wherever  possible   to    old   Roman 
methods  of  speech.     Probably  the  right  path  lies 
mid-way.    There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Greek 
language   in    many   cases   gave   the   impulse,  and 
there  can   be   no  doubt   either  that   this   impulse 


I40  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

was  followed  more  readily  when  old  Roman  forms 
of  language  were  at  hand  to  support  it:  in  other 
words  when  the  "feeling  for  language"  was  not 
outraged. 

The  fact  that  verbs  expressive  of  willing  admitted 
a  simple  infinitive  to  follow  them  [as  in  Romance]  is 
explained  by  the  analogy  of  iubere,  vetare,  and  other 
verbs  which  admitted  of  such  constructions  from  the 
earliest  times :  at  the  same  time  it  is  probable  that 
Greek  influence  was  a  factor  in  this  construction. 
Less  doubtful  still  is  it  that  Greek  influence  was  at 
work  in  combinations  like  maior  videri  **  more  stately 
to  behold/'  niveus  videri,  "white  to  look  at"  =  /x£/^ajv, 
Afuxo?  I<^fV6ai  [cf  **vultus  nimium  lubricus  adspici/' 
Hon   Od.   i,    19,  8]:  "cernere  erat/'  e.g.,  in  Aen. 
vii,   596,  reminds   us  of  h  \$i!v:  "quem  virum  aut 
heroa  lyra  vel  acri  Tibia  sumis  celebrare  Clio?"  of 
alpntr^oci,  $i$ovxi,  with  the  infinitive :  "  Pelidae  cedere 
nescii/'  **puer  dignus  cantari/'  remind  us  of  Uuvoq 
and  i^Loq  with  the  infinitive.    More  manifest  still  is 
foreign    influence   in    places   like  Catullus,    iv,    2: 
"  phaselus  ille  .  .  .  ait  fuisse  navium  celerrimus,"  or 
Vergil,  Aen.  iv,  305  :  "  dissimulare  sperasti ";  in  these 
cases   the   true  Latin  feeling  for  language   would 
lead  us  to  expect  the  accusative  and  infinitive.    In 
the  same  way  constructions  like  "  sensit  delapsus  " 
(Aen.  ii,  377),  or  " gaudent  scribentes "  in  Horace, 
Ep.  ii,   2,    107,  remind  us  of  Greek  constructions 
like  x^'^?^  ocKov(ro(,g :  but  more  than  all  the  infinitive 
of  the  perfect  used  in  the  sense  of  the  present  in- 
finitive— as  in  Propertius,  i,  i,   15:  **ergo  velocem 
potuit  domuisse  puellam  " :  and  in  Tibullus,  i,  10,  6 1 : 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


141 


"  sit  satis  .  .  .  rescindere  vestem,  Sit  satis  ornatus 
dissoluisse  comae,"  cf  i,  1,  29,  45,  and  M.  Haupt  in 
Belger's  "  Biographie,"  p.  233. 

The  treatment  of  cases  is  not  unlike  that  of  the 
treatment  of  moods.  The  so-called  Greek  accusative 
and  dative,  which  belongs  chiefly  to  Roman  poetry, 
and,  as  its  name  indicates,  was  referred  exclusively 
to  a  Greek  origin,  existed  even  in  old  Latin.    This 
fact  could  not  but  encourage  later  poets  to  employ 
on  a  larger  scale  the   construction   which   was  so 
much  favoured  in  Greek.    Hence  Ovid  employs  this 
dative  more  commonly  than  the  ablative  with  ad, 
and  it  occurs  in  Silius  Italicus  about  a  hundred  and 
fifty  times  as  against  twenty  cases  of  the  ablative 
employed   with   ad.     On   the   other    hand   certain 
phrases  appear  to  be  direct  copies  of  Greek  idioms: 
such  are  desinere  querelarum  (Hor.  Od.  ii,  9,  18), 
desisiere  pugnae    (Aen.    x,    44i)  =  a(piVTa(r9ai'  xiko?, 
solvere  operum  (Hor.  Od.  iii,  17,  i6)  =  a7roAu£ii/ Tii/e?, 
mirari  laborum  (Aen.  xi,  126)  =  OaujU^a^ai/  livd  Tti/o?, 
and  again  regnare  populorum  (Hor.  Od.  iii,  30,  12), 
and  cupere  alicuius  in  Plautus  (Mil.  964)  may  be 
formed  on  the  analogy  of  apx^n/,  \'TrA\}\t.iiy\  though  the 
construction   regent,  cupidum  esse,   may  have  sug- 
gested them:  cf  eius  videndi  ctipidtis  in  Terence, 
Hec.  iii,  3,  12.    And  when  Horace,  in  the  passage 
quoted  from  the  Ars  Poetica  in  §  86,  in  speaking 
of  the  enrichment  of  language  by  the   poet  [Ars 
Poet.   56]  writes   invideor  for  mihi  invidetur,  it  is 
obvious  that  he  is  copying  the  Greek  (pOovoj^ai  (from 
(p^Qvily  Tin).   [Of  course  the  exigences  of  metre  had 
here  to  be  considered.     Cf  too  the  construction  of 


142     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

imperor,  Epp.   i,  5,  21,  and  in  Verg.  Aen.  ii,  247, 
"  non  unquam  credita  Teucris  "]. 

88.  These,  then,  are  the  main  features  of  the 
diction  of  the  Roman  poets  as  exhibited  in  their 
works.  They  convince  us  that  these  poets  have 
worked  with  plenty  of  goodwill  and  honest  effort, 
but  that  their  strength  was  no  match  for  that  of 
the  Greeks,  and  their  language  again  could  not  com- 
pare in  elegance  with  that  of  their  Hellenic  teachers. 
The  assertion  may  fairly  be  made  about  the  Roman 
poets  which  Lessing,  at  the  end  of  his  **  Ham- 
burgische  Dramaturgie,"  makes  about  himself:  viz., 
that  these  poets  have  no  eye  for  the  living  source 
which  by  its  innate  power  springs  upwards  with  rich, 
fresh,  and  clear  rays:  but  that  they  find  themselves 
constrained  to  squeeze  their  outpourings  from  them- 
selves by  dint  of  water-pipes  and  pressure.  Even 
the  most  honoured  bards  of  the  grand  era  of  Au- 
gustus were  in  the  main  gifted  with  talent  rather 
than  genius.  While  Horace  says :  "  Graiis  ingenium, 
Graiis  dedit  ore  rotundo  Musa  loqui,*'  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  nation  which  called  even  the 
set  form  in  which  war  was  declared  a  ''  Carmen " 
was  by  nature  rather  intended  for  prose  than  verse, 
and  that  it  has  indeed  attained  to  a  high  pitch  of 
eloquence  in  oratory.  But  it  is  not  alone  in  the 
bent  of  the  Latin  national  poet^  that  we  have  to 
look  for  the  faultiness  of  their  expression,  but  in  the 
essence  of  the  Latin  language  itself.  This  language 
was  a  hard  metal,  only  to  be  worked  by  dint  of 
much  toil  and  pains,  and  it  justified  the  complaint 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


143 


made  in  ''the  legend  of  Pilate"  regarding  the  Ger- 
man language  * :  its  toughness  renders  it  an  unfit 
instrument  for  poetry,  but  it  must  be  treated  like 
steel  which  is  hammered  on  the  anvil  till  soft;  it 
'  requires  toil  and  labour  to  render  it  malleable. 

*  For  *'  the  Legend  of  Pilatus,"  see  "  Die  geistliche  Dichtung 
des  Mittelalters,"  Zweiter  Teil,  "  Die  Legenden  und  die  Deutsche 
Ordensdichtung,"  bearbeitet  von  Prof.  Dr.  Paul  Piper,  Berlin, 
Spemann,  p.  24. 


IV 

The  Language  of  the  Latin  People 

89 

ON L Y  a  few  years  ago  the  conviction  was  pre- 
valent in  Germany  that  the  language  of  the 
people  had,  by  a  process  of  mutilation  and  decay, 
developed  out  of  the  language  of  the  educated  classes. 
This  view  is  at  the  present  day  superseded,  mainly 
owing  to  the  works  of  Klaus  Groth,  who  has  shown 
by  irresistible  proofs  that  dialect  is  not  a  caricature  of 
cultivated  language,  but  is  in  fact  the  marble  block 
out  of  which  the  language  of  culture  is  hewn.  The 
views  of  scholars  have  come  to  a  similar  conclusion 
with  regard  to  the  popular  dialect  of  the  Romans. 

The  conviction  is  forced  upon  us  that  the  relation- 
ship of  daughter  and  mother,  by  which  it  was  cus- 
tomary to  illustrate  that  of  vulgar  to  cultured  Latin, 
is  in  this  case  inapplicable.  Vulgar  Latin  cannot 
indeed  have  taken  its  rise  by  the  simple  process  of 
vulgarizing  the  idiom  of  the  better  educated  classes; 
rather  are  both  idioms  to  be  regarded  as  the  child- 
ren of  a  common  mother,  viz.,  Old  Latin.*    They 

*  "What  we  call  Vulgar  Latin  is  the  speech  of  the  middle 
classes  as  it  grew  out  of  Early  Classic  Latin.  It  is  not  an  inde- 
pendent offshoot  of  old  Latin;  it  continues  the  Classic,  not  the 
primitive,  vowel  system.  Neither  is  it  the  dialect  of  the  slums  or 
of  the  fields;  grammarians  tell  us  of  not  a  few  urban  and  rustic 

144 


LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC.  145 

thus  are  related  collaterally,  and  neither  preceded 
the  other,  but  they  lived  side  by  side.  At  the  same 
time  it  remains  doubtful  whether  they  were  locally 
separate,  i.e,,  whether  one  idiom  was  prevalent  in 
Rome,  while  another  was  spoken  in  the  Latin  dis- 
tricts (cf.  B.  Maurenbrecher,  "  Jahrbiicher  f.  Philol.,*' 
1892,  p.  204),  or  whether  we  are  justified  in  suppos- 
ing with  Schuchardt  that  the  degree  of  education 
professed  by  the  speaker  or  writer  was  responsible 
for  his  linguistic  usage.  Between  the  two  extremes 
— the  written  language  and  the  popular — stands  the 
language  of  conversation,  for  which  we  may  regard 
Cicero's  Letters  and  the  Epistles  and  Satires  of 
Horace  as  our  main  authorities.  Just  as  Quintilian, 
the  erudite  professor  of  rhetoric,  loved  to  discard  the 
stately  stiffness  of  the  language  of  the  professorial 
chair  (xii,  10,  40)  and  employed  that  of  the  sermo 
cotidianus  {consuetudo),  so  does  Cicero  express  him- 
self "Quid  tibi  ego  videor  in  epistulis?  Nonne 
plebeio  sermone  agere  tecum  ?  Epistulas  vero  coti- 
dianis  verbis  texere  solemus"  (Ad  Fam.  ix,  21,  i). 
One  of  the  most  characteristic  examples  of  this 
familiar  conversational  language  is  to  be  found  in 
Cicero's  letter  to  Atticus  (i,  16),  with  its  loose  con- 
nection of  sentences,  its  terse  and  sketchy  style :  its 
ellipses,  puns,  and  proverbial  turns,  its  exaggera- 
tions and  its  frequent  emphatic  asseverations.  How- 
vulgarisms  that  are  not  perpetuated  in  the  Romance  tongues. 
It  is  distinct  from  the  consciously  polite  utterance  of  cultivated 
society,  from  the  brogue  of  the  country,  and  from  the  slang  of 
the  lowest  quarters  of  the  city,  though  affected  by  all  of  these." — 
(Grardgent,  "Vulgar  Latin,"  §  3;  cf.  also  Olcott,  "Studies  in  the 
wore  formation  of  Latin  inscriptions,"  Rome,  1898,  p.  xi,  §  i.) 

L 


\ 


146     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ever,  the  most  important  sources  of  vulgar  Latin 
are  the  writings  of  the  Patristic  Fathers,  the  Ro- 
mances, the  Comedies;  and  also  writers  on  special 
subjects,  like  Vitruvius  and  the  later  Jurists,  the 
writings  of  Petronius,^  the  "  Bellum  Hispaniense," 
the  **  Bellum  Africum,"  etc. 

90.  At  the  time  when  Roman  literature  came  into 
life,  the  popular  dialect  had  already  suffered  con- 
siderable losses  in  respect  of  its  sounds.    The  ter- 
minal sounds  of  words  were  particularly  exposed  to 
such  atrophy :  the  d  of  the  singular  in  the  termina- 
tions dd,  od,  ed,  id,  etc.,  had  fallen  away,  m,  s,  and  / 
were  in  process  of  disappearing  {see  Corssen,  *'  Voca- 
lismus,"  i,  294) :  Vowels  were  abbreviated  or  cast  off, 
in  medial  syllables  they  were  syncopated,  or  again 
were  inserted  to  avoid   harsh    sounds.     All  these 
changes  owed  their  origin  mainly  to  the  conditions 
of  the   pitch   accent.     For  the  more  strongly  the 
accentuated  syllable  was  uttered,  the  less  power  of 
articulation   remained   for   the  unaccented  syllable 
which  followed  it,  and  this  was  accordingly  more  or 

less  mutilated. 

»  Other  readjustments  followed :  m  and  n,  when  they 
preceded  their  kindred  labial  or  dental  sounds,  lost 
their  ancient  force  and  were  sometimes  not  pro- 
nounced at  all,  sometimes  pronounced  less  forcibly. 
In  the  same  way  the  contraction  of  diphthongs  into 
simple  sounds  was  noticeable.  The  sounds  ez,  eu,  on, 
ai  oi  had  already,  in  the  ''  Prisca  Latinitas,"  shrunk 
to  t,  A  ae,  and  oe,  but  now  ae  sunk  to  i,  and  au  to  S 
{e.g.,  sodes  =  si  audes).    It  is  to  this  sound-change  that 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


147 


the  gens  Plotia  and  gens   Clodia,  which  hived  off 
from  the  Plautii  and  the  Claudii,  owe  the  form  of 
their  name.   In  certain  cases  this  weakening  process 
has  spread  even  to  the  classic  language,  e.g.,  in  ex- 
plodo  compared  with  applaudo,    and    in   lotus  with 
lautus.    The  uncertainty  which  even  educated  Ro- 
mans  attached   to  the  pronunciation  of  the  au  in 
Cicero's  time  is  well  shown  by  the  illegitimate  in- 
trusion of  this  sound  in  the  word  origa  (from  oreae, 
i,e.,  kabenae-.  the  bridle  which  drags  at  the  mouth). 
For  even  assuming  that  the  form  auriga  owes  its 
form  to  popular  etymology  which  refers  it  to  aureus 
or  to  auris,  still  when  used  by  the  educated  Ro- 
man it  makes  on  us  the  same  impression  as  the  form 
Kausche7^  for  Koscher  in   the   mouth  of  the  half- 
educated  German   [there   was   the   same  tendency 
to  pronounce  osculunty  ausculuTn],    Both  changes  are 
referable  to  the  efforts  made  to  avoid  plebeian  pro- 
nunciation, and  to  ignorance  of  etymology. 

91.  From  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  on- 
wards the  confusion  spread  ever  wider  and  identified 
the  pronunciation  of  v  and  b  (hence  the  French 
avoir  =  habere),  of  ^  and  x  (hence  O.  Fr.  sa^nii, 
velvet  =  E5a>*To;/,  from  %l  and  ^urro?,  six-threaded  stuff), 
of  i  and  e,  of  u  and  0,  while  ct,  pt,  so,  in  medial  syl- 
lables, are  often  reduced  to  tt  and  ss,  and  in  the  case 
of  words  commencing  with  s  and  consonant,  the 
opening  sound,  or  anlaut,  was  preserved  by  the  sub- 
stitution of  an  inserted  vowel  (hence  French  itait, 
O.  Fr.  estait  =  stabat,  and  ipie  =  espee  =  spatha). 

In  most  of  these  changes  it  is  obvious  that  a  dis- 


148     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

position  to  ease  pronunciation  and  a  desire  to  spare 
trouble  assert  themselves.  The  masses  like  to  save 
their  breath;  they  are  shy  of  long  words,  and  where 
they  meet  with  sound  groups  hard  to  pronounce, 
which  they  cannot  manage  to  employ  off-hand  and 
with  ease,  they  simplify  them,  and  thus  suit  them  to 
their  articulation. 

92.  This  trait  is  also  markedly  prominent  in 
verbal  inflexion.  Ordinary  persons  are  not  prone  to 
prolonged  reflexion :  they  do  not  trouble  to  master 
the  variety  and  multiplicity  of  inflexional  forms; 
they  are  averse  to  a  multitude  of  nominal  and  verbal 
endings.  They  are  content  with  the  differentiation 
of  the  word-stem  comprising  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  and  they  drop  the  terminations  as  soon  as 
possible;  these  are,  after  all,  of  merely  secondary 
importance.  Nowhere  has  analogy  such  large  and 
wide  play  as  in  the  language  of  the  people;  no- 
where is  the  tendency  towards  a  certain  definite 
uniform  model  so  marked.  Thus  the  strong  (?>., 
consonantal)  conjugation  has  suffered  considerable 
losses  at  the  cost  of  the  denominatival  in  -are,  -ere, 
and  'ire.  Not  merely  is  the  future  in  most  of  the 
verbs  formed  in  -abo,  -ebo,  and  -iboy  but  many  verbs 
pass  wholesale  into  the  vowel  conjugation:  instead 
q{  fodere,  consternere,  spernere,  we  find  fodare,  con- 
sternare,  spernare:  the  form  nioriri  so  common  in 
Plautus  ( =  Fr.  mouriry^  for  the  classical  form  mori, 
has  even  found  its  way  into  the  Metamorphoses  of 
Ovid,  xiv,  215.     Reduplication,  so  seldom  found  in 

*  Ital.  morire. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


149 


classical  Latin,  almost  disappears,  so  that  curri  takes 
the  place  of  cucurri. 

93.  Similar  phenomena  are  also  to  be  seen  in  the 
case  of  the  declensions.  A  large  number  of  con- 
sonantal stems  have  passed  into  the  first  or  second 
declension  by  the  addition  of  a  or  0.  This  holds 
good  of  foreign  words  also,  e,g.,  Crotona  =  Croton, 
Troezena  =  Troezen,  Hellada  =  Hellas,  lampada  = 
lampaSy  aulona  =  aulon,  onycha  =  onyx,  as  well  as  of 
genuine  Latin  words;  e.g,,  of  Cassida  =  Cassis, 
retium  =  rete,  etc.  The  Greek  neuters  in  -ma,  and 
neuter  -s  stems  in  -us  were  treated  more  simply  still 
by  analogy  with  the  termination  of  the  nominative 
case;  they  were  treated  as  feminine  nouns  of  the 
first,  or  sometimes  as  masculine  nouns  of  the  second; 
diadema,  diademae\  plasma,  plasmae]  tempus,  tempi  \ 
corpus,  corpi]  hence  we  get  Italian  plural  forms  like 
tempi,  e.g.,  in  the  proverb  tempi  passati.  In  other 
cases  the  genitive  case  gives  the  impulse  to  the 
change:  hence  we  find  nominatives  like  lactis  and 
falcis  substituted  for  lac  and  falx.  A  remarkable 
uniformity  established  itself  in  the  proper  names 
belonging  to  the  masculine  as  well  as  the  feminine 
p-ender :  most  of  these  assumed  the  metaplastic  forms 

o  ... 

in  'tis  and  -nis]  more  particularly  nomina  propria  m 
-es,  -as,  'is,  -os,  -e,  and  -a\  Agatkoclenis  (nom. 
Agatkocles) ;  Niceronis  (nom.  Niceros) ;  Hermionetis 
(nom.  Hermione)',  Felicianetis  (nom.  Feliciana). 

Irregular  case-forms,  such  as  those  in  -ius  and  -i — 
the  genitive  and  dative  of  the  pronominal  second 
declension— were  for  the  most  part  discarded  and 


ISO     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

replaced  by  "regular"  forms;  e,g.,  totae  =  totius, 
nullo  =  nulli.  Generally  speaking,  exceptions  in 
every  form  were  banned  from  use :  thus  the  mascu- 
lines of  the  third  declension  in  -isy  such  zsjinis  and 
pulvisy  became  feminine  under  the  influence  of  this 
termination,  which  is  mainly  characteristic  of  femi- 
nines:  hence  the  French  la  fin  and  la  poudre — 
neuters  crumbled  away  in  large  numbers :  they  were 
mostly  converted  into  substantives  of  the  masculine 
or  feminine  gender,  a  circumstance  which  has  led  to 
the  almost  complete  disappearance  of  the  neuter  in 
the  Romance  languages.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
that  this  concentration  of  the  genders  was  greatly 
helped  by  the  disappearance  of  the  terminal  con- 
sonants; if  'tis  and  -tmi  in  the  second  declension 
were  pronounced  in  the  same  way,  it  was  not  a 
difficult  process  to  reduce  the  words  of  the  second 
declension  to  uniformity  in  gender  also;  in  which 
process  the  stronger  masculine  gained  the  day. 

94.  As  in  its  inflexions,  so  in  its  word  formations, 
vulgar  Latin  exhibits  a  strong  tendency  to  uniformity. 
Thus  the  adverbial  termination,  -iter,  which  in  classi- 
cal Latin  is  almost  exclusively  employed  for  deriva- 
tives of  adjectives  of  the  third  declension,  spreads 
to  those  of  the  second  declension,  as  aequiter, 
amoeniter,  amiciter  (oi,  Osthoff,  **  Archiv  fur  Lexiko- 
graphie,"  iv,  455  and  99),  Neue,  '*  Formenlehre,"  ii,  2, 

The  following  terminations  were  much  favoured: 
-monta,  -monium  [tristimonia,  fniserimonium),  -ma 
{collina,   calcinay  lapsina)^    -nienitim    {lustramentum. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  151 

odoramentum,   decoramentum),    -ela    {fugela,   luela), 
-ntia  (nascentia,  crescentia,  resonantia)\    and  again, 
personal  names  ending  in  -o  and  -onis  are  in  constant 
use,   such  as  agaso,  balatro,    caupo.     Adjectives  in 
'His,  -bilis,  -eus,  -aster  are  as  plentiful  as  leaves  in 
Vallombrosa,    cf.    Wolfflin,    "  Archiv    fur    Lexiko- 
graphie,"   xii,   419):  -idus  is  also  a  very  common 
termination :  and  we  find  many  so-called  factitive 
words,  especially  such  as  come  from  adjectives  in 
ficus,  such  as  magnificare  and  pacificare,  and  -idus, 
such  as  frigidare,  candidare.    Inchoative  verbs  are 
also  extraordinarily  popular  in   vulgar    Latin  (see 
K.  Sittl.  "  De  Latinae  Linguae  Verbi  Inchoativis," 
"  Archiv  fiir  Lexikogr."  i,  465-532);  and  these  have 
multiplied  with  interest  in  the  Romance  languages, 
and  notably   in   Italian.     Verbs  in  -illare  are  also 
favourites  (cf.  A.  Funck,  loc.  citat.  N.  68,  223  sqq), 
as  are  desideratives  in  -urio,  which  it  may  be  noted 
are  avoided   by   Quintilian,    Tacitus,   the   younger 
Pliny,  and  also  by  Livy   (who  has  only  the  form 
parturio) ;  but  such  forms  occur  with  great  frequency 
in  comedy,  satire,  letters,  in  Petronius,  Martial,  and 
Apuleius,  while  they  have  almost  disappeared  from 
the  Romance  languages  (vide  loc.  citat,,  i,  408  sqq.). 
Finally  there  are  certain  verbs  derived  from  super- 
latives like  approximare,  tdtimare,  infimare,  which 
seem  to  be  a  special  characteristic  of  African  Latin 
(vide  loc.  citat.,  ii,  355  sqq.).    It  may  be  argued  that 
these  features  of  vulgar  Latin  seem  to  imply  a  cer- 
tain monotony  and  uniformity;  still,  we  cannot  over- 
look the  fact  that  the  luxuriant  prodigality  and  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  such  new  formations  are  evidence 


152  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

of  a  vitality  and  propelling  force  of  language  quite 
foreign  to  the  genius  of  classical  Latin  which, 
like  other  literary  dialects,  remains  artificially  barri- 
caded against  outside  influences.  At  the  same  time, 
the  terminations  mentioned  testify  that  vulgar  Latin 
prefers  strength  and  weight  to  weakness  and  lack 
of  energy:  tristimonia  is  fuller  toned  and  more 
effective  than  tristitia,  miserimonium  than  miseriUy 
duriter  than  dure.  It  is  also  worth  while  remark- 
ing that  these  forms,  like  others,  seem  to  have  de- 
veloped differently  in  different  localities,  e.g,,  the 
abstract-suffix  -itia  {-ezza)  was  much  used  in  Italy, 
while  Spain  prefers  -ura,  and  France,  at  least  in 
early  times,  -tas  {sanU  =  sanitatem),  (Cf  Meyer- 
Lubke,  **Archiv  flir  Lexikogr/'  viii,  313-338, 
especially  p.  336).* 

95.  We  may  naturally  expect  that  the  syntax  of 
vulgar  Latin  will  in  its  turn  afford  plenty  of  ex- 
amples of  a  tendency  towards  uniformity  in  the 
shaping  of  constructions.  The  vulgar  dialect  mani- 
fests a  clear  effort  to  simplify  the  existing  relations 
of  a  complex  sentence.  The  ablative  absolute  gains 
ground  at  the  expense  of  the  verb  with  the  con- 
junctive particle,  and,  in  the  place  of  the  accusative 
and  infinitive,  sentences  with  quod  appear  with  in- 
creasing frequency. 

As  early  as  Petronius  and  the  author  of  the 
"  Bellum  Hispanicum  "  we  find  traces  of  this  change: 
at  a  later  period  it  manifests  itself  very  strongly  in 

*  See  Olcott,  "Word  Formation,"  pp.  75,  80,  and  Grandgent, 
"  Introduction  to  Vulgar  Latin,"  p.  20. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


153 


the  writings  of  the  African  Fathers,  especially  of 
Tertullian :  of  the  poets,  Commodian  was  the  first  to 
adopt  it.  In  French  quod  (in  the  shape  of  que^ 
**that")  has  almost  completely  displaced  the  old 
construction  (cf.  G.  Mayen,  "  De  Particulis  Quod 
&c.  .  .  .  positis,"  Kiel,  1889,  and  -  Archiv  fur 
Lexikogr."  viii,  148).  It  also  happens  that  verba 
sentiendi  et  declarandi  are  parenthetically  inserted 
or  merely  connected  paratactically,  according  to  the 
usage  in  modern  languages,  "  You  are  ill.  I  fear," 
*'  Tu  es  malade,  je  le  crois."  As  early  as  Plautus, 
and  also  among  other  old  Latin  authors,  we  find 
this  usage  attached  to  the  following  words  obsecro  = 
amabo  (cf.  Lindskog,  "  Quaestiones  de  Parataxi  et 
Hypotaxi  apud  Priscos  Latinos,"  Lund,  1897,  pp.  7 
sqq?).  The  so-called  dubitative  subjunctive  gives 
place  more  and  more  to  the  indicative :  "  cui  dono 
hunc  librum?"  takes  the  place  of  the  classically 
regular  ''  cui  donem  ?  "  Many  impersonal  verbs  are 
treated  like  personal  ones :  paenites  stands  instead  of 
te  paenitet.  In  the  speech  of  the  educated,  where 
the  words  alter,  quisque,  unuSy  uterque  are  employed, 
the  substantive  is  commonly  attached  in  the  same 
case ;  so  in  the  lingua  vulgaris  with  maxima  pars 
(homines),  etc.  As  early  as  Cato  we  meet  with 
accusatives  like  id  genus,  hoc  genus,  omne  genus,  in- 
stead of  an  attributive  genitive  with  a  substantive, 
e,g.,  "librl  huius  generis,"  "libri  eius  modi"  (see 
Schmalz  ''  Lat.  Syntax,"  in  J.  Muller  s  ''  Handbuch," 
ii,  274).     ' 

96.   Even  in  the  matter  of  word  signification,  the 


/ 


li* 


154  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

tendency  to   consult  convenience  is  clearly  to  be 
seen.    There  are  certain  wide  receptacles  into  which 
everything  possible  is  packed.    Such  receptacles  are 
words  of  quite  ordinary  signification,  which  are  in 
every  one's  mouth,  and  which  come  ready  to  hand 
at  a  moment's  notice.    Such  is  the  word  machen  in 
German.    Whoever  wants  to  travel  to  Berlin  macht 
(is  making)  for  it:  commercial  travellers  make  (are 
dealing)  in   cigars :   a  common  greeting   is  "  Was 
machst  du?"     For  ''to  open  "  and  **to  shut,"  the 
German  idiom  is  "  to  make  open  "  and  "  to  make 
shut":  for  to  blame  "to  make  lower,"  for  to  split 
wood  '*to  make  wood,"   etc.^    Similarly  in   Latin, 
fdcere  in  the  vulgar   idiom    signifies  (i)  aestimare: 
(2)  to  travel,  se  facere Romam:  (3)  as  a  medical  term 
curare:    again   (4)    cacare   and    (5)   coire\   (6)   sero 
facit — the   French   il  se  fait  tard:  f    (7)  nunquam 
facit  tale  frigus  (L.  Augustin,  serm.  25,  3) — Una 
jamais  fait  aussi  froid.     But  it  is  particularly  used 
in  connection  with  an  infinitive,  e.g,,  stomachari  me 
fecistiX  or  in  connecting  words  like  lique-facere  so 
as  to  form  factitive  words,  in  which  Latin  is  some- 
what defective. 

From  Lucretius  to  Ovid  this  usage  is  rare,  but  in 
Tertullian,  Cyprian,  and  their  contemporaries,  it  is 
very  common  (cf.  Ph.  Thielmann,  ''Facere  mit 
Infinitiv";  *'Archiv  fur  Lexikogr."iii,  iiyff.;  Deecke, 

*  Cf.  the  uses  of  the  English  "to  do"  in  "How  do  you  do?" 
"do  you  see?"  "to  do  up,"  "to  do  honour  to,"  "to  do  away 
with,"  etc. 

t  ^o  facit  se  hora  quinta,  Bechtel,  126,  quoted  by  Grandgent, 

§114. 

X  Cf.  "ecce  Pater  fecit  Filium  nasci  de  vergine,"  ib.,  §  117. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


155 


''Facere  undf eri  in  ihrer  Komposition  mit  anderen 
Verben,"  Strassburg,  1873).  The  same  tendency  is 
manifest  in  the  treatment  of  substantives.  Many 
conceptions  occurring  in  the  daily  life  of  the  ordinary 
man  form  the  starting-point  of  new  terms  which  are, 
in  fact,  simply  adjectival  attributes  used  as  substan- 
tives. Thus  there  were  different  kinds  of  vesteSy  such 
as  a/6ay  nigra,  dalmatica :  and  each  of  these  epithets 
was  used  as  a  new  substantive.  As  the  connection 
in  which  these  words  were  used  excluded  any  pos- 
sible misunderstanding,  and  as,  in  addition,  the 
meaning  and  gender  of  the  adjective  indicate  the 
way  in  which  the  word  is  intended  to  be  understood, 
the  substantive  was  for  convenience  sake  merely 
dropped.  In  this  way  arose  the  numerous  ellipses 
in  which  the  vulgar  idiom  delights,  e.g.Jerina.por- 
cina  {caro),  tertiana,  quartana  {febris),  dectima 
(pars). 

97.  Finally  we  have  to  remember  the  borrowed 
words  in  Latin,  for  in  these  the  popular  desire  for 
convenience  and  ease  appears   in   a  very  marked 
way.    The  educated  portion  of  a  nation  frequently 
imitates  with  elaborate  conscientiousness  the  pro- 
nunciation of  a  foreign  word  introduced  into  their 
language,  and  faithfully  reproduces  all  its  sounds. 
Not  so  the  masses:  they  follow  the  promptings  of 
their  own  mind.     For   the  plain  man,  no  peculiar 
sanctity  attaches  to  these  strange  words ;  no  law  of 
the    Medes   and    Persians  forbids   his  remodelling 
them  or  changing   them    at   his   caprice.    In  their 
sounds  and   combinations   of  sounds   no   two   Ian- 


156  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

guages  are  exactly  similar;  sounds  assume  different 
characters  to  suit  each  nation's  idiosyncrasy.  Hence 
it  IS  often  a  matter  of  difficulty  for  the  borrowing 
nation  to  reproduce  the  borrowed  expressions  in 
their  correct  pronunciation.  But  the  people  have  no 
great  scruple  in  shaping  anew,  to  suit  the  require- 
ments of  their  own  language,  what  occurs  to  them 
as  harsh;  in  some  cases  by  dropping  certain  sounds, 
in  others  by  modifying  unmanageable  sounds  into 
more  familiar  ones.  It  follows  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  those  words  suffer  the  most  mutilation  in  which 
the  phonetic  differences  of  the  two  idioms  are  most 
marked.  **  All  languages,'*  says  Jacob  Grimm  in  the 
Introduction  to  his  German  Dictionary,  p.  xxvi, 
*'  if  they  are  in  a  natural  and  healthy  state,  possess 
an  innate  tendency  to  exclude  foreign  elements, 
and  if  these  persist  in  intruding,  to  oust  them 
again,  or  else  to  identify  them  with  native  ele- 
ments. No  single  language  is  capable  of  giving  ex- 
pression to  all  possible  sounds,  and  all  languages 
reject  such  as  are  unnecessary,  finding  them  a  mere 
incumbrance.  If  by  any  chance  a  foreign  word  falls 
into  the  current  of  a  language,  it  is  tossed  and 
pitched  till  it  takes  the  same  hue,  and,  in  defiance 
of  its  alien  stock,  looks  like  a  native  product." 

98.  The  terminations  of  words  like  Ulixes  = 
'0$\j<T<Tiiq,  and  Perses  =  llif(Tii<;,  are  explained  by  the 
want  of  the  diphthong  eu  in  old  Latin :  the  lack  of 
sounds  exactly  answering  to  the  Greek  aspirates, 
including  (^,  accounts  for  their  representation  in 
Latin  by  the  tenues/,   Cy  t,  and  the   spirant  s,  ss: 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


157 


hence  purpura  =  7rop(pvpx,  tus  =  6uo?,  malacisso  =  fxaXa- 
xi'^w,  etc.  It  is  true  that  classical  Latin  did  take 
over  the  words  which  had  established  themselves  in 
archaic  Latin,  accepting  them  in  their  established 
form;  in  the  case  of  new  borrowings,  however,  it 
permitted  no  such  transformations,  but  clung  with 
servile  care  to  the  original,  and  rendered  sound  for 
sound.  Jacob  Grimm  is  completely  wrong  when  in 
his  treatise  on  the  pedantic  element  in  the  German 
language  ("  Kleine  Schriften,"  i,  344)  he  regards 
this  trait  of  pedantry  as  specifically  German :  rather 
is  it  characteristic  of  all  written  languages  as  con- 
trasted with  the  language  of  the  people.  The  names 
of  towns  which  found  their  way  into  German  owing 
to  commercial  and  other  intercourse  before  the  rise 
of  the  High  German  written  language,  plainly  show 
the  stamp  of  popular  handling.  Milan  is  called  not 
Milano  but  Mailand:  Venezia  is  called  Venedig: 
Paris  is  called  Paris:  Brussels  is  not  called  Brux- 
elles,  but  Brussel.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Germans 
of  the  present  day  affect  such  pronunciations  for 
Niaeara  as  would  be  rendered  in  German  Neiagara.* 
And  it  is  much  the  same  in  Latin — Paestu7n  = 
noo-ficTwi/Za,  Carthago ^ keret  chadeschet  (Newtown), 
Sipontmn  —  liirovg,  Massilia  =  Mao-traA/a,  etc.  And 
we  may  contrast  with  these  the  names  of  most  o 
the  towns  in  European  and  Asiatic  Greece,  which 
came  to  be  known  in  Rome  through  literary  chan- 
nels only.  But  the  procedure  was  the  same  in  other 
words,  and  not  merely  with  place  names:  for  in- 

*  Just  so  we  talk  of  Leghorn,  and  sailors  speak  of  the  Bellero- 
phon  as  the  Billy  Ruffian. 


Illil't 


158     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

stance,  in  German  we  have  the  popular  form  ordnen 
by  the  side  of  the  literary  form  ordinieren,  both  bor- 
rowed from  ordinare\  schreiben  as  against  reskrt- 
bieren,  to  write  back;  opfern  as  against  offerireUy 
dichten  as  against  diktieren,  trumpfen  as  against 
triumphieren .  * 

In  Latin  the  old  form  massa  represented  \^S.t^oL, 
but  the  later  literary  Latin  preferred  the  form  maza. 
In  Plautus  we  find  exanclare  =  iiotyrXiiv  :  the  later 
form  antlia  represents  the  Greek  dyTxloc,-\ 

99.  But  the  people  went  even  a  step  farther.  Not 
content  with  merely  transforming  the  sounds  to  suit 
their  own  convenience,  they  endeavoured  in  many 
cases  to  read  into  the  borrowed  word  a  similarity  of 
meaning  with  some  word  in  their  own  vocabulary. 
Here  we  come  to  a  new  kind  of  transformation.  In 
the  former  process  the  people  merely  consulted  their 
own  convenience  in  pronunciation,  but  the  new 
process  manifests  a  wish  to  render  the  language 
clear  and  perfectly  intelligible. 

The  popular  ear  catches  sometimes  in  foreign 
idioms  what  seem  to  be  echoes  of  native  words,  and 
the  result  is  not  unfrequently  a  complete  change  and 
reconstruction  of  the  word.  The  uneducated  man 
feels  unconsciously  and  without  reflection  that  the 
expressions  which  he  employs  are  no  empty  sound : 
the  name  of  a  thing  cannot  be  a  mere  dead  ''  sign  " 
because  (to  use  Steinthal's  words,  ''  Geschichte  der 

*  We  may  compare  in  English,  order  ordination  and  ordain ; 
trump  and  triumph;  proctor  and  procurator. 
t  "  A  pump";  used  by  Martial,  9,  19. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


159 


Sprachwissenschaft  bei  Griechen  und  Romern,"p.  5) 
for  him  the  fact  of  hearing  anameimphes  its  existence : 
he  thinks  of  the  thing  implied  in  the  word,  and  hence 
It  happens  that  to  his  mind  word  and  thing  are  one 
— but  he  has  no  idea  of  worrying  himself  about  the 
real  origin  of  the  word  or  of  groping  after  its  etymo- 
logy ;  in  fact,  owing  to  his  ignorance  of  the  historical 
development  of  language  he  is  in  no  position  to 
elucidate  such  points.  His  transformations  of  words 
are  instinctive,*  and  wholly  unscientific.  Of  course 
it  may  well  seem  in  such  cases  that  the  sound  of 
words  thus  created  does  not  tally  with  the  concep- 
tion intended.  In  practice,  however,  we  all  know 
from  daily  experience  what  the  words  do  actually  de- 
note: it  is  the  power  of  usage  which  stamps  on  them 
the  hall  mark  of  propriety,  and  the  sound  of  the 
word  rings  true.  It  has  been  said  of  the  German 
language  (O.  Jaenicke,  *'  Zeitschrift  fiir  Gymnasial- 
wesen,"  xxv,  p.  753):  ''The  people  treat  foreign 
words,  both  with  regard  to  their  accentuation  and  to 
their  capricious  transformations,  almost  as  casually 
as  they  did  a  thousand  years  ago."  This  judgement 
holds  good  of  all  languages  and  of  all  times.  At  all 
times  and  in  all  places  the  people  have  accommo- 

*  "  The  nation  always  thinks  that  the  word  must  have  an  idea 
behind  it.  So  what  it  does  not  understand  it  converts  into  what 
it  does;  it  transforms  the  word  until  it  can  understand  it.  Thus, 
words  and  names  have  their  forms  altered,  e.g.  the  French  ecre- 
visse  becomes  in  English  crawfish,  and  the  heathen  god  Svantevit 
was  changed  by  the  Christian  Slavs  into  St.  Vitus,  and  the 
Parisians  converted  Mons  Martis  into  Mont-martre." — (Steinthal, 
in  Goldzihers'  "  Mythology  among  the  Hebrews,"  quoted  by  A.  S. 
Palmer,  "  Introduction  to  Folk  Etymology,"  p.  xix.) 


i6o    LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

dated  foreign  sound-groups  to  their  own  usages. 
And  it  follows  that  Forstemann  was  emphatically 
right  when  he  spoke  of  this  linguistic  proceeding  as 
**  popular  etymology."  A  few  examples  may  serve 
to  illustrate  our  meaning. 

lOO.  The  lower  Italian-Greek  town  MaXo/'n?  (from 
the  Doric  f^^xoy,  Attic  i^^aow,  apple,  hence  signifying 
Apple-town)  was  in  the  first  instance  converted  in 
the  mouth  of  the  Roman  into  Maleventum.  This  was 
commonly  understood  by  the  Latins  as  a  word  com- 
pounded of  7nalus  and  ventns,  and  it  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  name  of  a  town  of  bad  weather.  =^ 
But  no  sooner  was  Pyrrhus  defeated  here,  and  good 
fortune  set  in,  than  it  seemed  only  fitting  to  change 
the  ill-omened  name  to  Beneventum.f  So  opi/x'^Xxoi/ 
(tin)  influenced  by  aurtim  became  aurichalcum: 
xrjpJx£*ov  (Dorian  form  xapuxEtov)  under  the  influence  of 
cadere  [caducus]  caduceus;  'Axpciyocg,  Agrigefitum, 
fancifully  connected  with  ager%\  n^po-f^oj/n  was  turned 
into  Proserpina,  for  she  favoured  the  growth  of 
plants  from  the  earth  {pro-serpere)  \  Vio\^^hUyl<; 
was  conceived  of  as  the  bright  star  from/^//^^^r^.§ 

*  Storm  town ;  but  may  it  not  have  been  popularly  connected 
with  male  ventum^  from  venio'i 

t  Cf.  the  change  of " kiuvoq  into  Euxinus. 

X  We  may  compare  the  transformation  of  Bocage  Walk  into 
Birdcage  Walk,  and  of  L'Enfant  en  Castille  into  Elephant  and 

Castle. 

§  This  word  means  "to  bring  as  an  offering,"  and  the  deriva- 
tion from  liiceo  is  not  certain.  The  meaning  may  in  the  first  in- 
stance have  been  understood  as  the  "  favouring  "  or  "  appeased  " 
deity. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


i6i 


From  Celeddon,  brushwood,  the  native  Celtic  name 
of  Scotland,  was  made  the  name  Caledonia,  as  if 
from  ^^/?^//i'  =  **  warm-land";  and  out  of  the  neigh- 
bouring Ireland  (Celtic  Erin,  Greek  'IeV*')  by  asso- 
ciation with  Iverfiia,  was  made  Hibernia,  *'the 
winter  land."  The  Pennine  Alps  (from  Celtic /^;^,  a 
head)  were  connected  with  the  Poeni,  and  the  name 
was  said  to  bear  witness  to  the  passage  of  the  Car- 
thaginians over  this  part  of  the  Alps.  We  know, 
too,  that  the  Graian  Alps  were  alleged  to  bear  their 
name  in  memory  of  Greeks  who  were  supposed  to 
have  settled  there.  Regitim  (strictly  speaking  Rhe- 
gium  =  l>Yiyiovy  a  cleft)  suggested  a  connection  with 
regius,  ''Royal  town":  percontari,  from  contus  a  pole, 
to  explore  the  depth  of  water,  was  perverted  into 
percu7tctari,  and  connected  with  ctmctus:  and  if 
palma,  the  palm,  is  borrowed  from  the  Phoenician 
tamar,  tomer,^  with  anlaut  as  \n  pavo  =  Tcx,m,^  the 
notion  of  the  flat  hand  contained  mpalma  may  have 
contributed  to  this  result.  "  The  game  of  Troy,"  so 
popular  in  Rome  from  Sulla's  time  down  to  that  of 
Nero,  which  seems  to  have  derived  its  name  from 
the  word  troare  or  truare  =  o-aArjo-ai  [properly  to  move 
with  a  trua  or  trowel],  was  in  the  time  of  Augustus 
fancifully  connected  with  the  town  Troja,  whence 
the  Julian  dynasty  drew  their  origin. ^i 

The  name  of  the  aborigines  of  Italy  is  probably 

*  Or  Padmar;  cf.  Palmyra,  Tadmor. 

t  Both  Oriental  loanwords. 

X  Cf.  the  derivation  of  the  French  truie^  a  sow,  from  Troja  = 
the  pregnant  sow,  suggesting  the  Trojan  house  full  of  armed 
warriors. 

M 


/ 


i62     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

a  mere  transformation  of  a  word  less  understood, 

Aurunci  =  AusoniciJ^ 

The  construction  of  the  TuUianum,  the  well-known 
subterranean    state    prison    of    the    Romans,   was 
ascribed  by  the  Roman  legend  to  Servius  TuUius. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  word  comes  from  Tullius,  a 
spring   or  source,  and  it  indicates,  originally,   the 
spring  of  water  in  that  prison.     The  quarter  of  Rome 
called  Argiletum,  mentioned  in  Aen.  viii,  345,  was 
commonly  alleged  by  the  ancients  to  have  received 
its  title  from  the  fact  that  a  certain  Argos  had  found 
his  death  there  {Argi'letum)\  but  there  is  no  doubt 
whatever  that  it  takes  its  name  from  the  clay  pans 
in  the  vicinity,  Argiletum  from  argilla,\    We  are 
expressly  told  that  the  names  of  the  towns  Nequi- 
num  and  Epidamnus,  owing  to  the  ill-omened  sug- 
gestions of  neguam  and  darnnum,  were  changed  into 
Narnia  (Nar-town)  and  Dyrrhachium. 

The  myth  of  the  nursing  of  the  twins  Romulus 
and  Remus  by  a  wolf  is  to  be  explained  not  by  the 
fact  that  the  wolf  was  sacred  to  Mars,  but  solely  by 
the  similarity  of  the  two  words  rmna,  rumis,  rumen 
(udder),  and  Rumo,  the  oldest  name  of  the  Tiber 
and  of  the  city  of  Rome  (7??^;;/^  =  stream,  cf.  pay; 
Roma  =  Stream  town),  with  Romulus  =  son  of  Stream- 
town.  By  this  means  the  origin  of  the  stubborn 
spirit  and  the  unbridled  strength  of  the  Roman 
people  are  at  once  symbolically  denoted  .J 

*  Fredegar   renders   the   German    proper    name  Wintrio   by 

Quintio. 

t  Cf.  the  name  Tuileries. 

X  Diez  thinks  that  the  mid-Latin  cecinus,  a  swan,  got  its  name 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


163 


loi.  To  the  tendency  towards  clearness  and  ease 
of  apprehension  we  may  further  ascribe  many  other 
properties  of  vulgar  Latin.  The  masses  prefer  in- 
direct expressions  and  high-sounding,  even  strongly 
exaggerated  words.  The  man  of  the  people  loves  to 
fill  his  mouth  with  such  expressions  (cf.  J.  Egli, 
''  Die  Hyperbel  in  den  Komodien  des  Plautus  und 
in  Ciceros  Briefen  an  Atticus,  drei  Gymnasial-pro- 
gramme  von  Zug,"  1891-1893).  Every  kind  of 
exaggeration  in  language,  such  as  pleonasms,  ad- 
verbial expressions,  derivations,  intensives,  and  com- 
position of  words  with  particles  of  augmentative 
force,  enter  into  his  utterances :  coepi,  with  the 
infinitive,  replaced  the  so-called  ingressive  Aorist, 
as  "  clamare  coepit,"  "he  burst  into  a  cry";  for 
simul  and  minquam  they  preferred  to  say  mio 
tempore,  and  ntcllo  tempore ;  also  instead  of  noctti  and 
mane,  nocturfio  and  matutino  tempore\  for  7i07i,  melius 
was  often  preferred,  e.g.,  *'  is  nullus  venit." 

For  emere,  the  word  cofnparare  (Italian  comprare) 
came  into  use  as  early  as  Plautus,  and  adcaptare 
(French  acketer)  at  a  later  period;  instead  of  disce7'e 
they  preferred  to  say  apprehendere  and  imparare. 
The  periphrastic  phrases  with  dare  3.nd /acere  cum 
adiectivOy  in  place  of  the  simple  verb,  were  favourite 
methods  of  expression. 

A  tendency  to  pleonasm  is  also  manifested  by 
the  usage  of  fui,  ftieram,  fuero,  for  sum,  eram, 
ero  in  the  passive  composite  moods;  and  in  the  con- 
nection of  the  present  participle  with  esse,  e.g.,  amans 

from  ctcer,  with  reference  to  the  excrescences  on  its  bill.    See 
Palmer,  p.  238. 


ili 


i64  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

est  instead  of  simple  verb,  amat.  The  regular 
addition  of  the  personal  pronouns  ego,  tu,  nos,  vos,  to 
the  verbs,  even  in  unemphatic  positions,  gives  a 
greater  fullness  to  the  language;  while  the  strength- 
ening genitives,^^v////^w,  lociy  locortim,  terrartim,Qtc., 
where  places  are  defined,  as  in  ubi  gentinm,  lend 
greater  force  to  the  language  employed.  Needless 
to  say,  such  drastic  expressions  as/^r  abeas,  instead 
of  the  simple  word  abi,  the  more  circumstantial 
ncscio  qtiis  for  aliqnis,  and  the  more  emphatic  tanien' 
etsi^etsi  are  in  perfect  accord  with  the  tendency  of 
the  ordinary  man  to  express  himself  with  em- 
phasis. 

1 02.  The  strength  of  exaggeration  manifests  itself 
with  peculiar  frequency  in  Latin  negations.  It  is  in- 
credible how  many  changes  it  is  possible  to  ring  on 
this  theme;  how  many  variations  the  fancy  of  the 
common  people  can  bring  into  play.  In  classical 
Latin,  as  we  all  know,  two  negatives  cancel  each 
other,  or,  it  may  be,  result  in  making  an  affirmation 
stronger;  but  in  popular  Latin,  as  indeed  in  the 
common  German  idiom,  in  old  English,  and  in 
Greek,  the  multiplication  of  negatives  is  conceived 
solely  as  a  method  of  strengthening  an  affirmation. 
And  is  there  any  possible  object  so  insignificant  as 
not  to  have  been  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  denoting 
absolute  nothingness  ? 

The  German,  to  emphasize  his  negations,  can  say 
'•  not  a  hair,"  *'  not  a  farthing,"  *'  not  a  rush,"  **  not 
a  copper,"  **  not  an  idea,"  "  not  a  bean," ''  not  a  try," 
**  not  a  trace."     The  Frenchman  can  say  ne  .  .  .pas, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


165 


"not  a  step";  ne  .  ,  ,  point,  **not  a  point"  {punc- 
turn),  and  n(^ant  (non  ens),  etc.^  Thus  we  cannot 
object  to  the  Roman  if,  besides  nihil^ne-hilum, 
"  not  a  thread,"  he  employs  ideas  such  as  no7i  nauci, 
fiocci,pili,  assis,  tertmcii,  hettae,  etc.,  dihcr  facer e,  in 
the  sense  of  "  valuing  at  so  much."  Besides  these, 
we  read  in  Plautus,  Ciccum  non  interduim,  Rud. 
580;  granum  tritici,  Stich.  IV,  i,  52;  phima,  Most. 
II,  i,  60;  nux.  Mil.  II,  iii,  45;  digitus,  Aul.  I,  i,  17; 
triobolus,  Rud.  V,  iii,  11,  all  employed  in  this  sense. 
We  meet  with  the  repetition  of  one  and  the  same 
substantive  (especially  with  the  relative  pronoun)  in 
all  periods  of  the  popular  dialect  of  Plautus,  down  to 
that  of  late  Latin,  especially  with  locus,  dies,  and  res. 
And  when  an  English  peasant  says  "  Your  father, 
he  was  my  friend,"  why  should  it  not  be  permitted 
to  the  Roman  peasant  to  say:  "  Pater  tuus  is  erat 
patruelis  meus,"  or  "pone  aedem  Castoris  ibi  sunt 
homines"? 

103.  Frequentative  and  intensive  verbs  in  vulgar 
Latin  often  take  the  place  of  their  primitives.  For 
instance,  agitare,  pulsare  (Fr.  pousser),  iactare  (Fr. 
Jeter),  cantare  (Fr.  chanter),  quassare  (Fr.  casser)  are 
used  where  classic  writers  are  commonly  content  to 
employ  the  simple  verbs  agere,  pellere,  iacere,  etc., 
just  as  in  German,  where  similar  idioms  are  con- 
fined mainly  or  exclusively  to  the  language  of  the 
people,  such  as  lungern  (to  loaf),  rankern  (to  plot), 
drdngeln  (to  press — as  we  should  say,  to  squash), 

*  Also  ne  mie^non  mica.   In  English  we  say  not  a  bit,  not  a 
rap,  not  a  scrap,  not  at  all,  not  a  fig,  etc. 


i66     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

etc.=^  Just  as  these  verbal  components  were  weakened 
in  their  signification,  so  did  the  comparative  and  the 
superlative  frequently  subside  into  simple  positives ; 
hence,  in  order  to  express  degrees  of  comparison,  the 
addition  of  suffixes  denoting  a  higher  degree  or  the 
prefixing  of  augmentative  adverbs  was  found  neces- 
sary. These  peculiarities  made  their  earliest  appear- 
ance in  the  cases  of  superlatives  in  -mus.  In  this 
way  such  forms  arose  as  proximior,  postremior, 
minimissimus,  postremissimus,  praeclarissimus,  per- 
paticissimi  [cf.  our  Most  Highest].!  On  the  other 
hand,  instead  of  comparison  made  by  means  of  suf- 
fixes, we  find  the  custom  of  using  periphrases  with 
adverbs  such  as  valde,  bene,  plane,  satis,  adeo,  tarn, 
sane,  vehementer,  fortiter,  abtmde,  nimium,  affatim, 
multum.  Such  combinations  as  turpiter  makvolus, 
insanum  magmis,  immaniter  arrogans,  crudehter 
inimims,  are  characteristic  of  these  pleonasms.J 
Again,  both  methods  of  gradation  are  found  zoxi- 
\Mtzt^A,e,g.,maxime dignissimtis,  magis  utt/tor {Colum, 
viii,  5,  5);  and  we  must  notice  such  exaggerations  as 
immortaliter  gaudeo  (Cic.  Ad  Quintum  Fr.  iii,  i,  9), 
immortales  gratias  (Plane,  in  Cic.  Ad  Fam.  x,  11),  and 
pleonastic  combinations  such  as  mox  deinde  (Colum. 
ii,  I,  5),  adfuodtim  nimius  {loc.  ciL  iv,  21,  2).§ 

*  Cf.  such  English  expressions  as  to  pitch  away,  to  chuck,  to 

smash,  etc. 

t  This  usage  was  very  common  in  Elizabethan  English;  cf. 

Abbot's  "  Shakesperean  Grammar,"  §  11. 

X  With  which  we  might  compare  such  English  conversational 
exaggerations  as  awfully  pretty,  dreadfully  ugly,  terribly  small, 

etc. 

§  Plautus  has  "  mollior  magis,"  "more  tenderer,"  Aul.  422. 


'■'  - -^ 


< 


II 


\ 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


167 


The  same  principle  is  answerable  for  the  substitution 
of  compounds  containing  one  or  more  prepositions 
for  simple  verbs;  e.^-.y  sufflare  (Fr.  souffler)  ior  flare. 
The  latter  had  come  to  be  felt  as  too  unexpressive 
and  feeble;  and  the  common  people  clamoured  for 
a  stronger  speech  than  the  educated  classes.  Words 
compounded  with  con  and  ad  gained  a  wide  popu- 
larity; e.g,,  condignus,  condensus,  condormire,  -com- 
placerey  conflare  (Fr.  gonfler),  concastigare  (fourld  in 
Plautus),  assimilis,  adaeque^  accredere,  etc.  Similarly 
monosyllabic  prepositions  were  ousted  by  compound 
ones,  as  abante  =  Fr.  avant,  desub  =  Fr.  dessous.  This 
explains  the  fact  that  in  Romance  languages  short 
substantive  stems  either  disappear  as  in  the  case  of 
res,  OS,  mus,  zus,  sus,  ver,  or  were  lengthentid  by 
means  of  suffixes,  as  spes  (It.  speme),  vas  (It  vasello), 
lex  (It.  legge),  dux  (It.  doge),  nox  (It.  notte). 

104.  Further  we  must  remark  that  the  desire  for 
clearness  entailed  the  substitution  of  cases  *  joined 
with  prepositions  for  the  simple  cases ;  only  this  does 
not  arise  from  any  weakening  of  signification;  its 
cause  is  to  be  sought  in  the  gradual  weathering  off 
and  disappearance  of  the  terminations,  and  in  the 
shedding  of  final  consonants,  such  as  m,  s,  d^  /,  etc. 
By  this  process  the  relations  between  the  governing 
word  and  the  mere  inflexion  fell  into  such  confusion 
that  finally  in  order  to  arrange  relations  of  syntax 
and  to  promote  definiteness  in  meaning,  the  usage 
of  defining  words  to  take  the  place  of  inflexions  was 

*  Cf.  Grandgent,  pp.  46  sqq,  ^ 


I 

i68,    LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

deemed  necessary.  This  is  specially  true  o{  de=^ 
French  de,"^  which  took  the  place  of  the  genitive,  and 
indeed,  even  in  old  Latin  was  often  substituted  for 
the  partitive:  of  ^^(Fr.  a)  to  express  the  dative;  of 
in  to  denote  incidence  of  time,  and  of  per  and  cum 
to  denote  the  means  whereby,  in  other  words,  the 
agent.  Thus  Muller,  in  the  Pfalzburger  Programm 
for  1888,  shows  that  in  Sidonius  Apollinaris  ex 
occurs  much  less  frequently  than  de\  cf.  too  Clairin, 
"  Du  gdnitif  latin  et  de  la  preposition  de,"  Paris, 
1880. 

We   have  thus  approached  the  question  of  the 
syntax  of  vulgar  Latin  which  we  have  still  to  con- 
sider briefly,  as  well  as  that  of  style.    The  language 
of  the  people  is,  like  many  of  its  ways,  harsh  and 
brus(;ue,  but  is  instinct  with  lively  feeling,  and  is 
simple  and  easy  to  understand.  It  knows  nothing  of 
artistic  combinations  of  periods;  one  thought  connects 
itself  to  another  with  the  greatest  naiveti.  The  heart, 
and  not  the  understanding,  is  the  chief  factor  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  periods  employed  by  the  common 
man.  ^  His  sentences  are  set  paratactically,  and  in 
the  simplest  form.  •  All  complications  of  language 
are  as  far  as  possible   avoided.    Hence   his  style 
leaves   the  impression  of  brevity  and  abruptness; 
thoughp  and  sentences  alike  seem  to  be  running 
away,  and  not  unfrequently  to  proceed  by  a  series 
of  jumps,  disregarding  all  logical  continuity.    And, 
what  is  more,   even  the  semblance  of  connection 
is  frequently  enough  very  faint.     The  word  and 
plays  a  great  part  in  the  paratactic  arrangement  of 

♦  Cf.  Grandgent,  p.  43. 

I 


)  I 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


169 


the  sentences  of  the  uneducated,  though  not  unfre- 
quently  even  this  word  is  omitted.  Oratio  obliqtia  is 
replaced  by  direct  speech.  If  a  peasant  relates  what 
another  has  confided  in  him,  he  brings  his  interlo- 
cutor before  us  as  speaking  the  words  in  his  own 
person,  so  that  we  have  him  as  in  actual  life  before 
our  eyes,  and  can  hear  the  words  fall  from  his  lips. 
This  artificial  form  is  precisely  that  used  by  the 
brothers  Grimm  in  the  composition  of  their  Fairy 
Tales.* 


105.  Abstract  ideas  and  high-flown  phrases  are 
unpopular  with  the  man  in  the  street.  Not  that  he 
is  lacking  in  the  power  of  expressing  conceptions 
remote  from  reality,  and  lying  beyond  the  domain 
of  the  senses,  but  rather  that  he  fails  to  give  what 
we  may  call  objective  expression  to  his  inner  life 
and  ideas.  His  thoughts  have  so  naturally  come  to 
be  identified  with  himself  that  he  never  comes  to 
reflect  upon  the  nature  of  these  thoughts  at  all.  He 
lives  through  the  various  circumstances  of  life  with 
his  inner  consciousness,  without  caring  to  appeal  to 
any  exterior  agency  as  accountable  for  their  exist- 
ence. He  looks  on  life  as  bounded  and  conditioned 
by  his  surroundings,  and  forms  his  views  from  those 
surroundings:  and  thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  he 
lends  life  and  picturesqueness  to  his  language  by  the 
formation  of  numerous  metaphors  taken  from  the 
various  phenomena  forced  upon  his  attention  by  his 
surroundings.  *'The  journalist  or  closet  philosopher," 
says  Schroder  in  his  treatise  on  the  journalese  style 
*  This  artifice  is  characteristic  of  Defoe's  works. 


I70    LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

(no  doubt  with  some  exaggeration)  "  never  suspects 
that  the  groom  and  the  dairymaid  employ  in  a  single 
year  more  tropes  and  figures  of  speech  than  he  will 
find  in  all  the  literary  masterpieces  of  the  world." 
And  Biese  actually  asserts  ("  Das  Naturgefiihl  bei 
Griechen    und    Romern,"    ii,    20)   that    in    Roman 
comedy  figures  of  speech  and  similes  are  rare!    Cer- 
tainly we  do  not  find   any  long  drawn-out  similes 
such  as  characterize  epic  poetry,  but  we  light  on 
very   many  picturesque    expressions    and    pointed 
parallels  drawn  from  the  sphere  of  daily  life,  as  is 
the  way  of  the  people.    In  fact,  the  nearer  the  people 
stand  to  an  object,  and  the  better  they  feel  that  they 
know  it,  the  more  frequently  and  with  the  greater 
pleasure  do  they  drag  it  into  their  language  by  the 
aid  of  metaphor.    Things  which  they  have  loved  or 
known  force  themselves  on  their  attention,  such  as 
parts  of  the  body,    domestic   animals,  implements, 
trees,  the  heavens,  the  stars,  and,  again,   common 
actions   and  processes,  habits  which  have  become 
second  nature.    Even  Cicero  was  struck  by  the  fact 
that  the  language  of  the  people  possesses  a  large 
store   of    metaphors;    for   he    says.    Or.     24,   81  : 
'Hralatio   qua  frequentissime  sermo   omnis    utitur 
non  modo  urbanorum,  sed  etiam  rusticorum,  siqui- 
dem  est  eorum:  *gemmare  vites,  sitire  agros,  laetas 
esse  segetes,  luxuriosa  frumenta'  " ;  and  again,  De  Or. 
iii,  38,  135,  he  expresses  himself  in  the  same  way: 
**  nam  gemmare  vites,  luxuriam  esse  in  herbis,  laetas 
segetes  etiam  rustici  dicunt "  (cf.  Quint,  viii,  6,  6). 
The  Roman  people  loved  expressions  quaint  and 
forceful,  such  as  testa  (a  potsherd),  used  for  a  heady 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


171 


tHe;  spatha,  a  stirring  spoon  =  ipde  for  a  broad- 
sword (Tac.  Ann.  xii,  35);  bucca,  "puff  cheek"  for 
"mouth,"  (Fr.  bouche)\  iugulare  for  interficere,  pro- 
perly" to  cut  the  throat";  calctdare  (from  calculus, 
a  little  stone  which  was  used  for  reckoning)  =  com- 
putare,  to  reckon ;  or  phrases  like  "  corium  concidere 
alicui,"  "  to  cut  about  any  one's  leather,"  that  is  to 
say,  to  hide  any  one  (applied  strictly  to  wild  beasts), 
and  "  sub  manus  succidere,"  originally  a  technical 
term  of  joiners  and  potters,  which  even  in  Plautus 
occurs  with  the  metaphorical  meaning  of  "  to  leave 
the  hands  of  the  maker"  (cf.  too  O.  Ribbeck.  "Gesch. 
der  rom.  Dichtung,"  i^,  123).  But  the  Roman  loved 
above  all  things  metaphors  taken  from  military  life 
and  from  the  science  of  law.  Each  of  these  depart- 
ments lay  near  to  his  heart,  and  appealed  so  strik- 
ingly at  once  to  his  taste  and  his  powers  that  he 
lived  for  them  and  in  them. 


106.  This  whimsical  trait  of  the  people  reveals 
itself,  moreover,  in  their  method  of  naming  the 
objects  of  daily  life.  Thus  we  have  numerous  plants 
and  beasts  for  which  the  Roman  countryman  pos- 
sesses native  names,  or,  it  may  be,  names  given 
them  by  himself  in  the  course  of  time,  while  the 
classical  language  mostly  took  over  the  correspond- 
ing terms  from  the  Greek.  These  expressions  are 
pretty  and  picturesque,  simple  and  easily  intelligible. 
For  example,  the  onion  {caepa),  from  the  fact  of  its 
possessing  a  single  bulb,  was  called  by  the  country- 
men umo=^¥r,  oignon\  the  almond  tree  {amygdala) 
was  called  nucicla  =  nucicula,  properly  "little  nut''; 


172     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

the  sycamore  {sycaminos\  celsa\  the  centaury  {cen- 
taurea),  fel  terrae.  In  the  same  way  he  bestows 
upon  the  chamaepitys  the  name  of  abiga  (the  re- 
pellent) ;  he  calls  the  sneeze- wort  (abrotommi)  by  the 
name  of  veratrtim,  on  account  of  its  supposed  power, 
if  strewn  upon  the  head,  to  sharpen  men's  wits.* 
He  calls  the  heliotrope  verrttcaria,  wart-weed ;  the 
rhamnus,  our  Christ's  thorn,  he  calls  sentis  ursina, 
or  bear  thorn;  the  strychnos,  tiva  lupina,  wolfs 
grape ;  the  giraffe  {camelopardalis)  becomes  the 
ovis  fera\  the  elephant  (elephantus)  bos  Ltica\  the 
hippopotamus,  bos  Aegyptius\  the  ostrich,  passer 
marimis  (Plaut.  Pers.  H,  ii,  17),  the  leech  {hirudo) 
sanguisuga,  the  blood-sucker,  etc. 

107.  And  there  is  a  strong  contrast  between  the 
vulgar  dialect  and  polite  diction  in  the  use  of  re- 
flexive verbs,  tenses,  and  the  Figtira  etymologica. 
All  these  peculiarities  mark  the  language  of  the 
people,  and  are  intended  to  promote  clearness.  How 
seldom  does  Caesar  employ  such  expressions  as 
se  fledere,  se  effimderey  se  7novere,  instead  of  flecti, 
efftmdi,  nioveri,  and  how  commonly  do  we  meet  with 
such  expressions  in  the  lingua  rustical  Involuntarily 
we  call  up  such  German  expressions  as  *'der  Rock 
nutzt  sich  bald  ab,"  f  or  such  French  expressions  as 
-  Paris  ne  s'est  pas  fait  en  un  jour;  les  spectacles  se 
donnent."  etc.  Further,  if  we  find  that  the  mfinitive 
present  instead  of  the  infinitive  future  (a  usage  em- 

*  Connecting  it  with  verus. 

t  Or  such  English  phrases  as  "do  move  yourself  off,"  "pull 
yourself  up,"  etc. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


173 


ployed  by  Caesar  only  occasionally.  Bell.  Gall.  ii,32, 3; 
iv,  21,  5;  22,  I ;  vi,  9,  7;  in  order  to  express  the 
immediate  completion  of  any  action)  occurs  far  from 
unfrequently  in  vulgar  Latin,  this  is  surely  a  testi- 
mony to  the  lively  and  rapid  thoughts  of  the  people, 
who  can  with  such  facility  transpose  the  future  into 
the  present.  But  the  Figura  etyfjiologica  has  ever 
been  a  favourite  in  popular  Latin  from  the  time  of 
Plautus  down  to  Apuleius,  Tertullian,  and  St.  Augus- 
tine. Thus  as  early  as  Plautus  we  find  quite  com- 
monly such  expressions  as  '*  vitam  vivere  "  (e.g.  Merc. 
473),  "servitutem  servire"  [e.g.  Capt.  391),  "messem 
metere"  [eg.  Epidic.  701),  "obsonium  obsonare" 
(e.g.  Stich.  410),  "  statuam  statuere  "  (e.g,  Asin.  712); 
these  and  similar  expressions  are  found  equally 
in  all  later  writers;  indeed,  new  expressions  are 
constantly  being  coined  upon  these  models,  eg,, 
"laudes  laudare"  (Fronto),  "questus  queri"  (Statius), 
"  vigiliam  vigilare"(Gellius),  "indumentum  induere," 
"  somnia  somniare,"  "  sortem  sortiri "  (all  in  Vul- 
gate). (Cf  too  Landgraf,  '^  De  Figuris  etymo- 
logicis  Linguae  Latinae,"  Acta  semin.  philol.  Erlang. 
ii,  1-70,  and  Fr.  Leiffholdt,  '*  Etymologische  Figuren 
im  Romanischen,"  Erlangen,  1884.) 


108.  We  have  still  to  touch  on  the  third  main 
characteristic  of  the  vulgar  tongue,  namely,  the 
greater  role  assigned  to  the  emotions  than  to  the 
intellect.  The  educated  man  speaks  only  after 
mature  reflection.  We  remember  that  Tallyrand 
goes  so  far  as  to  remark  sarcastically,  "  La  parole 
a  ete  donnee  a  I'homme  pour  deguiser  ses  pensees! " 


X74  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

The  people,  however,  wear  their  heart  always  upon 
their  sleeve.   They  repudiate  all  disguises  and  reveal 
all  their  feelings,  all  their  thoughts,  all  their  emotions, 
not  merely  in  their  looks  and  gestures,  but  in  their 
utterances  and  words  as  well.    Hence  it  comes  to 
pass  that   in  these  words,  unconsciously  and  even 
against  their  wishes,  they  reveal  their  sympathies 
and  their  antipathies  alike.     One  instance  of  this 
tendency  is  their  strong  predilection  for  diminutives 
in  sign  of  cordiality,  and  of  the  share  taken  by  their 
sympathies  in  the  moulding  of  their  speech.     Such 
diminutives  are  more  particularly  employed  to  denote 
sympathy  and  affection,  as  amicuhiSy  the  dear,  or,  it 
may  be,  the  poor  friend;    lectulus,  the  dear,  or  the 
comfortable,  bed ;  or  the  use  of  the  dimmutive  may 
be,  though  it  is  a  rarer  case,  a  sign  of  dislike,  as  in 
the  case  of  Asellus,  the  stupid,  stubborn  ass ;  spemla, 
the  faint  hope;  z^^r^^/a^?,  disagreeable  remarks.  These 
diminutives  have,  however,  become  so  completely 
identified  with  the  thoughts  of  the  people,  and  so 
little  are  they  felt  as  real  diminutives,  that  further 
diminutives  were  actually  coined  from  these,  as  for 
instance  from  asellus,  asellulus]  from  auricula,  auri- 
cilla\  from  cistula,  cistella  and  cistellulaJ^   There  are 
certain  diminutive  forms,  adjectival  and  verbal,  which 
bear  a  specifically  popular  stamp,  such  ^s  ptilckellus, 
formosulus,  tacitulus,  misellus,  liquidiusctilus,  nitidms- 
cuius,  minusculus,  mamsculus.    Parenthetical  phrases 
such  as  the  following  imply  ease  and  intimacy  on 
the  part  of  the  speaker — narro  tibi,   *'  I   only  tell 

*  Os  (mouth)  gives  osculum  (which  also  has  the  particular  sense 
of  "  kiss  ")  and  oscillum. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


175 


you";  mihi  ausculta,'^\\^ds  vA\2X\%2.y''\  a^nabo  te  = 
quaeso,  '*  tell  me,  love."  ^  Again  the  vulgar  tongue 
is  rich  in  ethical  datives,  which  even  with  Plautus 
had  become  favourites,  and  it  is  likewise  partial  to 
formulae  of  assertion  and  to  interjectional  expressions 
which  meet  us  in  all  stages  of  the  Latin  language. 
The  Roman  comedies  are  throughout  marked  by 
expressions  of  assurance  such  as  medmsfidius,  hercle, 
pol,  edepol,  ecastor,  nae,  and  again  by  particles  be- 
tokening affection  or  encouragement  as  attat,  attatae, 
babae,  bombax;  or  of  joy,  as  to,  euax,  euoe,  euan,  etc. 
Everywhere  the  feeling  of  the  moment,  or  what  we 
may  call  the  subjective  influence,  forces  itself  upon 
our  notice.  For  what  are  interjections  but  flashes  of 
feeling  shot  straight  and  sudden  from  the  heart? 

109.  But  the  deep  sympathy  of  the  people  with 
the  persons  and  objects  of  which  it  speaks  displays 
itself  equally  in  its  very  opposite  trait:  viz.,  in  the 
reticence  and  painful  anxiety  which  it  manifests  to 
avoid  uttering  certain  words.  The  people  recognize 
no  words  as  tabooed;  no  words  which  the  un- 
written law  of  polite  society  forbids  them  to  men- 
tion :  they  are  unaware  that  they  must  avoid  this  or 
that  unconventional  expression.  But,  religiously  or 
superstitiously  disposed  as  they  are,  they  feel  appre- 
hension and  awe  when  called  on  to  utter  the  name 
of  the  divinity  which  directs  their  destinies.  The 
words  spoken  to  the  pious  Israelites  of  old  with 
such  distinctness  and  emphasis,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
take   the    name  of  the    Lord   thy  God   in   vain," 

*  Only  used  by  women. 


N 


176  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

were  unconsciously  in  the  mind  of  every  Roman. 
Just  as  the  Hebrews,  from  religious  scruples,  in- 
stead  of  pronouncing  the  m.m^  Jehovah,  or  Jahweh, 
used  the  word  Adonai  i-e,,  ''the  Lord";  and  as  the 
Greeks  called  the  goddesses  of  vengeance,  the  ter- 
rible furies,  the  Eumenides,  i.e.,  ''  the  kindly  beings," 
and  Xif^i^ocl  ''  the  honourable  goddesses  " :  just  as  the 
Germans  mutilate  the  names  of  God,  of  Jesus,  and 
of  the  Devil  in  the  most  varied  ways,  e.g:,  Jesses, 
Potz  (-Gotts),  Deiker,  Deichsel  =  Teufel,*  so  did  the 
Romans  mangle  and  disguise  many  expressions  be- 
cause their  natural  reverence  prevented  them  from 
unnecessarily  repeating  with  their  lips  what  they 
deemed  in  their  hearts  to  be  holy.  One  might 
cite  as  a  proof  of  this  assertion  the  formulae  of 
asseveration  hercle^pol,  edepol\  but  there  are  many 
other  words  of  the  same  kind.  The  terrible  goddesses 
of  Fate  who  spared  no  one  were  called  "  Parcae,'* 
*'the  Sparing  ones,"  to  win  their  goodwill.! 

The  ancients  were  particularly  unwilling  to  pro- 
nounce words  which  recall  in  any  way  the  notion  of 
death,  because  they  were  in  terror  of  hastening  its 
approach.  For  instance,  the  word  morbus,  which  is 
etymologically  connected  with  7nors,  was  from  the 
earliest  times  avoided,  and  was  replaced  by  infir- 
mitas,  languor,  valetudo,  vitimn,  passio,  etc.  (cf. 
Wolfflin,  "  Sitzungsberichte  der  Bayr.  Akad,"  1880, 
pp.  387  sqq). 

*  And  as  in  England  we  have  such  words  as  deuce,  marry, 
and  zounds  in  older  English. 

t  This  word  is,  however,  connected  with  parcere  by  popular 
etymology  only;  it  is  more  probably  connected  with /aw. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


"^n 


For  the  word  mors  was  substituted  fatum,  quies, 
finis,  abitio,  etc.  :  for  the  word  **  to  die,"  hinc 
migrare,  discedei^e,  t^^ansire,  dor  mire,  oppete^^e,  de- 
siderari,  obire,  vixisse.  In  the  same  way  ior  ftmestus 
and  fatalis  the  ancients  preferred  to  employ  euphe- 
mistically infaustus  and  infortunatus,*  and  the  Ger- 
man expression,  '*geh  zum  Henker''  ("go  to  the 
deuce ")  finds  its  equivalent  in  the  Greek  £pp'  iU 
xopxxocg,  and  in  the  Latin  ''  i  ad  Graecum  Pi "  on 
account  of  the  shape  of  the  Greek  letter  tt,  which 
resem.bled  a  gallows. 

1 10.  Another  instance  of  the  bent  of  the  peasant 
mind  is  seen  in  the  joy  of  the  countryman  exhibited 
at  the  time  of  harvest  and  on  other  festive  occasions. 
This  gaiety,  coupled  with  the  native  Roman  predilec- 
tion for  banter,  led  to  the  introduction  of  such  popu- 
lar amusements  as  the  "  Fescennines,"  the  "  Satura,'* 
the  "  Mimes,"  and  the  "  Atellanae."  Especially  re- 
markable is  the  Roman  fondness  for  verbal  wit  and 
puns.f  This  characteristic  pervades  the  whole  of 
Roman  comedy ;  on  this  more  than  on  any  other  factor 
depends  the  great  effect  which  the  plays  of  the 
genial  Plautus  aimed  at  producing.  But  the  taste  is 
everywhere  manifest,  for  the  p/ebs  of  the  capital 
found  its  delight  in  such  jests  no  less  than  the 
peasant.  The  wit  of  the  soldiers  presumed  even  to 
play  upon  the  sacred  person  of  the  Emperor.    They 


*  Cf.  Velleius,  2,  cap.  93,  "  Si  quid  accidisset  Caesari,"  i.g.y  "  si 
mortuus  esset." 

t  Macrobius,  Sat.  ii,  4,  gives  many  instances  of  Roman  jokes. 

N 


178     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

twisted  the  name  of  Tiberius  Claudius  Nero  malici- 
ously into  ''  Biberius  Caldius    Mero,"  with  a  play 
upon  6z6ere,  calidum,  and  merum  (Suet.  Tiber.  42). 
The  Emperor  Macrinus,  who  treated  his  servants  to 
a  flogging  for  the  slightest  offence,  gained  as  his 
reward  the  nickname  of  "  Macellinus"  or  ^'butcher's 
boy"  (cf.  lul.  Capitol,  in  vita  Gordiani  jun.  c.    19). 
Not  unlike  the  banter  of  the  soldiers  is  the  comic 
transformation    of   the    word    discipUna    into    dis- 
plicina,  as  if  from  displicere,  referred  to  by  different 
grammarians  (Priscian,  ii,   ii4»  3'»  Donat.  392,  20; 
Consent,  p.  16);  in  the  same  way  the  mutilation  of 
popina    into  propina   shows  popular  influence    (cf. 
Isid.   XV,    2,   42;     Rossi,    Inscr.    i,    1055).      Trans- 
gulare  for  strmigtdare  (cf.  Schuchardt,  **  Vokalismus 
des  Vulgarlateins,"  iii,  12)  testifies  to  the  humour  of 
the  people,   and  it  seems  worth  noticing  that  the 
saintly  Cyprian  was  once  styled  ''  Coprianus,"  with 
a  play  upon  the  Greek  word  xoVpo?,  which  naturally 
enough  called  down  the  righteous  wrath  of  Lactan- 
tius  (Inst.   Div.  V,  i,  27):    '*  Audivi  ego  quendam 
hominem  sacrilegum,  qui  eum  (Cyprianum)  immu- 
tata  una  littera  Coprianum   vocaret,  quasi  elegans 
ino-enium  et  melioribus  rebus  aptum  ad  aniles  fabulas 
contulisset."* 

III.  In  conclusion,  to  review  briefly  the  whole 
subject,  we  find  the  close  connection  between  the 
spirit  and  the  language  of  the  people  fully  proved. 
Of  the  four  phases  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  life 

*  Levir,  a  husband's  brother,  was  conceived  of  as  ''  laeviis  vir." 
See  Walde,  p.  333. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  179 

imagination  and  natural   feeling  are  more  strongly 
emphasized  than  understanding  and  will  power. 

The  scanty  endowment  of  the  masses  in  respect 
of  the  last  mentioned  factors  explains  their  tendency 
to  seek  ease  of  expression,  which  tendency  manifests 
itself  in  the  first  place  on  the  material  side,  as,  for 
instance,  in  ease  of  pronunciation,  and  secondly,  on 
the  intellectual  side,  as  revealed  by  their  reduction 
to  simplicity  of  inflexional  forms  of  syntax  and  of 
word  signification.  On  the  other  hand  their  power  of 
imagination  conduces  to  lucidity  of  speech,  and  their 
undisguised  and  lively  feeling  renders  their  language 
so  homely,  so  winning,  and  so  sane. 

The  vulgar  tongue,  then,  contrasts  with  classical 
prose  by  its  effacement  of  intelligence  and  will.  In 
the  large  play  allowed  to  popular  fancy  and  popular 
genius  it  approaches  poetic  diction  ;  both  alike  lay 
the  greatest  weight  on  liveliness  of  style,  on  pictur- 
esque lucidity  in  form,  and  on  warmth  of  feeling. 
In  both  cases  we  find  sentences  loosely  attached  and 
loosely  constructed,  in  both  a  predilection  for  figura- 
tive expressions,  for  alliteration,  and  for  the  use  of 
frequentatives. 

Even  in  vocabulary  there  are  some  singular  re- 
semblances. Just  as  in  the  German  language  the 
words  *'  kosen.  Maid,  Born  "  are  at  once  poetical  and 
vulgar,  in  the  same  way  such  vulgar  Latin  expres- 
sions diS  factcndtis,  facundia,  amd  focus  (  =  French /^^^, 
fire)  are  not  found  in  Cicero  and  Caesar,  though  they 
appear  in  the  Odes  of  Horace,  and  in  the  Elegies  of 
Propertius.  Of  course,  the  linguistic  methods  by 
which  the  people  attain  their  ends  are  widely  dif- 


i8o  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC. 

ferent  from  those  of  the  poet.  Rough  folk-lore  has 
rough  methods— the  more  refined  style  of  the  poet 
walks  in  tenderer  ways.  The  former  loves  the  real, 
the  latter  the  ideal.  In  the  vulgar  tongue  change  in 
language  sets  in  unconsciously,  in  that  of  the  poet 
with  full  consciousness.  In  the  former  case  it  affects 
an  entire  class;  but  in  the  latter  case  the  degree  of 
its  influence  is  proportionate  to  the  genius  of  the 
author. 


V 


The  Classical  Language  of  Caesar  and  Cicero 

1X2 

WHILE  the  vulgar  tongue  resembles  a  meadow 
which  flourishes  and  blossoms  almost  without 
man's  aid,  the  artificial  language  resembles  a  garden 
fenced  in  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  demanding  un- 
remitting attention,  if  it  is  to  produce  good  fruit. 
Now  one  of  the  most  important  tasks  of  the  gardener 
is  to  rid  his  garden  of  weeds,  and  in  the  same  way  it 
is  imperative  for  a  classical  language  to  banish  all 
words  and  all  verbal  forms  to  which  objection  may 
be  taken  from  any  quarter.  It  follows  that  classic 
writers  must  in  the  first  place  be  on  their  guard 
against  the  introduction  of  obsolete  and  foreign 
terms,  and  in  the  next  place  against  the  creation  of 
new  and  startling  figures;  lastly,  they  must  do  their 
best  to  get  quit  of  every  element  which  in  the  eyes 
of  the  educated  classes  must  appear  vulgar  or  com- 
mon. Caesar  and  Cicero  have  acted  according  to 
these  maxims,  and  if  we  disregard  the  Letters,  which 
strike  a  more  familiar  note,  they  have  closely  scrutin- 
ized their  choice  of  words.  That  great  statesman 
and  general  who  brought  Gaul  under  the  Roman 
yoke,  was  renowned  not  merely  as  an  orator  and  a 
historian,  but  also  as  an  accomplished  grammarian. 

i8i 


Ill 


182   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

As  to  the  latter  quality,  in  the  two  books,  *'  De 
Analogia,"  dedicated  to  Cicero,  he  has  imposed  the 
strict  demand,  "  Habe  semper  in  memoria  atque 
pectore,  ut  tanquam  scopulum  sic  fugias  inauditum 
et  insolens  verbum"  (Gellius,  i,  10,  4),  for  which 
reason  this  document  is  described  by  Pronto  as 
"  libri  scrtipulosissimi''  and  the  precepts  therein 
laid  down  were  followed  by  himself  most  con- 
scientiously; indeed,  he  goes  so  far,  that  of  several 
expressions  connected  in  meaning  he  will  employ 
one  only,  because  he  deems  the  use  of  several  words 
superfluous  when  a  single  one  would  suffice.  For, 
as  Caesar  tells  us  (Brutus,  72,  253),  he  regarded  the 
*'  verborum  delectus"  as  the  "  originem  eloquentiae," 
and  it  is  to  this  careful  selection  of  words  that  he 
owes  **  mira  sermonis  elegantia  cuius  proprie  studio- 
sus  fuit"  (Quintilian,  x,  i,  114). 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  he  is  careful  to  avoid 
the  words  fltivms  and  amnis,  while  the  word  flti- 
7nen  occurs  in  his  writings  more  than  two  hundred 
times.  For  the  same  reason  he  writes  non  posse  for 
neqtdre,  hand  scire  and  non  scire  for  nescir^e:  he  writes 
timere  and  diligere,  not  mettierc  and  antare\  interest , 
but  not  refert\  nudare  and  privare,  but  not  orbare. 
In  the  same  spirit  he  discards  quamquam,  licet, 
etiamsi,  and  quamvis  (the  latter  word  only  in  the 
Bell.  Gall,  iv,  2,  5,  and  there  connected  ^xxki  pauci) 
in  favour  of  etsi\  quia  (only  Bell.  Civ.  iii,  30,  4)  for 
quod  donee,  and  quamdiu  (only  Bell.  Gall,  i,  17,  6)  for 
dum]  igitur  {only  Bell.  Gall,  i,  85)  for  itaqne.  The 
word  quomodo  occurs  nowhere  in  his  writings,  and 
tanquam  once  only,  in  a  fragment  quoted  by  Gellius 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  183 

(Noct.  Att.  i,  10,  4);  porro  only  Bell.  Gall,  v,  27,  4; 
haud  only  Bell.  Gall,  v,  54,  5;  he  renders  our 
word  "before"  almost  exclusively  by  priusquam, 
only  twice  by  antequam  (Bell.  Civ.  i,  2,  2,  and  ui, 
II,  i);  the  word  causa,  ''for  the  sake  of,"  appears 
one  hundred  and  fifty  times;  gratia  in  the  same 
sense,  twice  only  (Bell.  Gall,  vii,  43,  2,  and  Bell.  Civ. 
ii,  7,  3);  frtistra  occurs  ten  times;  nequiquam  twice 
only  (Bell.  Gall,  ii,  27,  5, and  Bell.  Civ.  i,  i,  4);  ^/M 
lare,  ''  to  name,"  occurs  forty-six  times,  but  nominare 
and  vocare  only  once  (Bell.  Gall,  vii,  TZ,  9>  and 
V,  21,  3),  whilst  in  Cicero's  speeches  appellare  occurs 
some  seventy-five  times,  and  the  other  two  verbs  are 
used  some  thirty  times  in  all. 

113.  We  also  miss  in  Caesars  "Commentaries" 
many  expressions  which  are  found  in  other  historical 
writers  of  that  time.  Although  he  speaks  so  often 
of  his  enemies'  defeat,  still  he  never  uses  the  word 
clades,  and  if  we  compare  the  speeches  which  Sallust, 
in  his  work  on  Catiline's  conspiracy,  puts  into  his 
mouth,  with  his  own  writings,  we  discover  that  ex- 
pressions commonly  recur  in  Sallust's  version  which 
are  far  removed  from  Caesar's  usage.  For  instance, 
such  words  as  divitiae  (found  forty  times  in  Sallust's 
account),  lubido  ox  libido  (thirty-five  times),  i^;2^^;/^rar^ 
(twenty  times),  miseriae  (fifteen  times),  stretiuus 
(fourteen  XAm^s),  prof ec to  (fifteen  times),  etc.,  are  no- 
where found  in  "  Bellum  GalHcum  "  and  the  "  Bellum 
civile"  (cf.,  too,  Schnorr  v.  Carolsfeld,  "  Uber  die 
Reden  bei  Sallust,"  Leipzig,  1888,  bes.  pp.  34  ;^^?-)- 

A  large  number  of  words  not  seldom  met  with  in 


i84  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Cicero's  speeches  are  not  employed  by  Caesar,  it 
may  be  from  their  rhetorical  character  or  from  some 
other  reason,  such  as  nedum,  dummodo,  nisi  forte, 
qtiippe  qui,  utpote  qui  [praesertitn  qui  only  in  Bell. 
Gall.  V,  47,  4),  dubito  an  {kaud  scio  an  only  in  v,  54, 
4),  tantum  abest  ut .  .  ,  ut,  scquitur,  restat,  proximum 
est,  reliquum  est,  extrenium  est,  piget,  miseret,  taedet. 
Further,  a  large  quantity  of  grammatical  peculiarities 
referred  to  at  length  in  our  school  grammars,  do  not 
occur  at  all  in  Caesar,  as,  for  instance,  the  use  of 
supplicarc\  7naledicere,obtrectare,operam  ^^r^  followed 
by  the  dative,  or  se  praestare  and  se  p7^aebere\  the 
latter  is  only  found  in  a  letter  in  Cicero's  collection. 
Ad  Att.  ix,  7,  I,  followed  by  the  accusative  ^nd parum 
followed  by  the  genitive. 

114.  It  must  not,  however,  be  assumed  that  the 
classical  "stylist"  sinks  into  monotony,  nay,  he  rather 
displays,  on  fit  occasions,  such  change  in  style  and 
matter  as  suits  his  purpose,  following  the  maxim 
variatio  delectat.  For  certain  transactions,  especially 
in  matters  appertaining  to  war  and  the  operations 
of  war,  he  sometimes  employs  as  many  as  three  or 
four  different  expressions  for  the  same  idea.  True 
it  is  that,  in  his  method  of  producing  variety,  he  by 
no  means  equals  a  Livy  or  a  Tacitus,  but  he  certainly 
escapes  wrecking  himself  on  the  rock  of  monotony. 
For  instance,  as  a  variation  of  the  word  castris 
{milites  continere),  he  writes  also  in  castris,  intra 
vallum,  intra  munhnenta.  And  as  a  variant  for 
fortunam  temptare  he  writes  also  experiri  and  pericli- 
iari.     For   the  phrase,  to  draw  a  sword,  he  uses 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


185 


sometimes  gladios  stringere,  sometimes  destringere 
or  educere-,  to  finish  the  war  is  with  him  belltmt 
conficere  or  finire.  For  *'  to  surpass  "  he  employs 
super  are,  vincere,  or  praestare.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  hardly  ever  uses  antecellere,  excellere,  praecedere, 
antecedere,  praecur7^ere,  etc. 

Newly  coined  words  are  hardly  to  be  found  in  his 
writings,  and  even  Greek  ones  he  employs  very 
sparingly,  although  he  was  favourably  disposed  to 
Greek  culture  and  Greek  customs,  and  as  Suetonius 
assures  us  (Julius  Caesar,  chap.  67)  gave  vent  to 
the  utterance,  "  what  matters  it  if  my  soldiers  use 
perfumes  so  long  as  they  fight  well."  We  must  not 
set  down  to  his  account  old  expressions  like  scopulus 
and  epistula,  which  had  by  his  time  admittedly 
assumed  a  genuine  Latin  stamp.  However,  such 
military  technical  terms  as  catapulta,  ballista,  sco7pio 
for  siege-work,  phalanga  to  express  a  roller  for  the 
launching  of  ships,  haipago  for  a  bill-hook  to  bring 
down  walls,  2S\.di  phalanx  to  denote  a  military  parade, 
could  hardly  escape  employment  even  by  such  a 
purist,  as  there  was  no  Latin  substitute  at  his  dis- 
posal. The  case  was  the  same,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  with  tetrarches,  theatruin^  ephippium,  scaphay 
mackinatio',  it  is,  however,  noticeable  that  when  he 
employs  the  word  malacia  to  express  a  dead  calm, 
he  finds  it  necessary  to  add  the  explanatory  sub- 
stantive, ac  tranquillitas  (Bell.  Gall,  iii,  15,  3). 


115.  Finally,  Caesar  has  kept  his  narration  as  free 
as  possible  from  vulgarisms,  and  he  has  avoided 
many  words  which  are  common  both  in  old  Latin 


i86  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

and  in  later  writers.     Instances  are:    the  intensive 
expressions  oppido  and  actutum,  and  the  preposition 
absque  in  the  sense  oi  sine,  the  substantives /r^^^//^, 
obsequela,  edulitini,  ambtilacmm,  the  adjectives  dis- 
cordiosus,  extimus,  which  Sallust,  for  instance,  has 
extracted  from  some  ancient  source.    Moreover,  he 
has   not   employed  many  of  the  frequentatives  so 
popular  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  in  contrast  to  the  last 
mentioned  writer  and  to  Livy;  and  if  he  (Bell.  Gall. 
V,  27,  i)  says  ventitare  consuerunt  or  (v,  7,  8)  saepe 
clamitans,  these  expressions  are  redundant  only  in 
appearance,  as  the  meaning  in  the  former  case  is, 
"  they  are  wont  to  pass  to  and  fro,"  and  in  the  latter 
case, ''  often  crying  aloud."    On  the  other  hand  there 
is  a  trace  of  vulgar    Latin   in  the  employment  of 
captiviis   to  qualify  objects  such  as   naves  (Bellum 
Civile,  ii,  5,  i ;  cf.  Bell.  Alex.  42,  4;  47>  2),  and  again 
in  the  use  of  sexennis  and  semestris  for  sex  annortim 
and  sex  mensium  (Bell.  Civ.  iii,  20,  5,  and  i,  9,  2),  in 
the  phrase  in  fiigant  dare  (Bell.  Gall,  iv,  26,  5,  and 
V,  51,  5;  cf.   Bell.   Afr.   78,  8,  and  Ph.  Thielmann 
"  Das  verbum  dare  im  Lateinischen,"  Leipzig,  1882, 
p.  105),  in  albente  caelo  (Bell.  Civ.  i,  68,  i ;  cf.  Sisenn. 
Fr.  103  P.,  also  Bell.  Afr.  ii,  i,  80).    Again  the  fol- 
lowing usages  seem  characteristic  of  vulgar  Latin: 
that  of  consimilis  (Bell.  Gall,  ii,  1 1,  i ;  v,  12,  3;  vi, 
21,  i),  convallis  (Bell.  Gall,  iii,  20,4;  v,  32,  2;  regu- 
larly used  in  Bell.   Afr.  and  Hisp.  for  vallis),  con- 
fieri  (Bell.  Gall,  vii,  58,   2),  adatigere  (V^^W.  Civ.  iii, 

58,  14). 


116.  Precisely  the  same  principles  are  illustrated 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


187 


by  Cicero,  theoretically  in  his  rhetorical  writings, 
but  practically  in  his  speeches,  and  in  his  philosophi- 
cal treatises.  We  are  able  to  gather  his  own  views 
about  the  admission  of  obsolete  expressions  from 
the  passage  De  Orat.  iii,  38,  153,  where  he  says: 
**  Prisca  fere  ac  vetusta  ab  usu  cotidiani  sermonis 
jam  diu  intermissa  poetarum  licentiae  liberiora  quam 
nostrae  (i,e,  oratorum),"  and  similarly  in  another  pas- 
sage (Or.  24,  80)  ''  Sed  etiam  inusitata  ac  prisca  sunt 
in  propriis,  nisi  quod  raro  utimur."  Still  Cicero  the 
orator  is  not  so  strict  as  Caesar  the  historian,  for 
Cicero  maintains  that  a  certain  mystical  charm 
attaches  to  his  style  (''grandior  atque  antiquior 
oratio  saepe  videri  solet,"  cf.  De  Orat.  loc,  cital.)  if 
he,  as  occasion  requires,  employs  old-fashioned  terms 
such  as  tempestas  used  in  the  sense  of  tempics,  ox  pone 
in  the  place  ol  post.  This  holds  true  especially  if 
the  archaic  expression  is  drawn  from  a  poetical  work, 
for  *'  raro  habet  etiam  in  oratione  poeticum  aliquod 
verbum  dignitatem."  The  case  is  different  in  such 
philosophical  writings  as  the  ''  Cato  Maior,"  in  which 
the  employment  of  old-fashioned  tricks  of  speech  is 
intended  to  invest  the  language  with  an  antique 
appearance,  just  as  Goethe's  method  is  intended  to 
do  in  Hans  Sachs'  "  Poetische  Sendung."  Still 
Cicero  with  all  his  toleration  confines  himself  within 
the  narrowest  possible  limits :  he  writes  quasi  in  the 
sense  of  quemadmodum  (19,  71),  and,  to  sum  up  here 
briefly  his  use  of  inflexional  forms  and  syntactical 
peculiarities,  he  employs  meditatus  (20,  74),  dimensus 
(17,  59)  in  a  passive  sense  (2,  4;  adepti  is  now  taken 
as  the  true  reading,  not  adeptam),  audaciter  for  audac- 


i88     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ier  (20,  72),  qicam  viam  ingrediendum  sit,  for  quae 
via  ingredienda  sit  (2,  6). 


117.  In  his  admission  of  foreign  words  Cicero  is 
equally  moderate,  especially  in  his  speeches,  in 
which,  apart  from  the  borrowed  words  which  had 
already  acquired  rights  of  citizenship  in  the  Latin 
language,  very  few  Greek  terms  are  to  be  found. 
Cicero  expressly  advises  (Or.  49,  164):  '' Quare 
bonitate  potius  nostrorum  verborum  utamur  quam 
splendore  Graecorum."  In  accordance  with  this 
maxim,  he  introduces  one,  and  only  one,  foreign 
word  into  the  speech  *'  Pro  Quinctio,"  viz., 
ephemeris  (18,  57);  in  "Pro  Ligario  "  none  at  all, 
for  barbarus  can  hardly  be  considered  as  such. 
Most  of  these  Greek  words,  as  we  might  naturally 
expect,  are  found  in  the  Verrine  Orations,  where  so 
many  Greek  objects  of  art  are  mentioned.  In  his 
philosophical  works,  however,  Cicero  could  not 
absolutely  dispense  with  foreign  appellatives,  the 
less  so  because  the  entire  material  for  these  pro- 
ceeded from  Hellenic  sources,  and  technical  ex- 
pressions had  to  be  employed  for  which  no  Latin 
words  had  been  coined.  So  the  orator  is  justified  in 
saying  (De  Fin.  iii,  2,  5):  **Quamquam  ea  verba 
quibus  instituto  veterum  utimur  pro  Latinis  ut  ipsa 
philosophia,  ut  rhetorica,  didactica,  grammatica, 
geometria,musica,quamquam  Latine  ea  dici  poterant, 
tamen,  quoniam  usu  recepta  sunt,  nostra  ducamus." 
In  cases  where  the  new  terms  which  he  employs 
are  not  fairly  incorporated  into  the  language,  he 
adds  some  expression  like  *'  as  they  are  called,"  as 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


189 


in  De  Nat.  Deor.  21,  53:  ''Qui  theologi  nomi- 
nantur,"  or  as  in  Paradoxa,  4:  "  Mira  ista  paradoxa 
quae  appellant  maxime  videntur  esse  Socratica," 
and  in  the  same  place,  "  Ea,  quae  dicuntur  in  scholis 
thetica."  But  in  general  his  aim  is  to  create  satis- 
factory Latin  substitutes,  sometimes  by  simply 
transposing  them,  sometimes  again  by  new  forma- 
tions, in  accordance  with  his  purpose  expressed  in 
the  Tusculan  Orations  (i,  8,  15):  *'  Dicam,  si  potero, 
Latine;  scis  enim  me  Graece  in  Latino  sermone 
non  plus  solere  quam  in  Graeco  Latine."  Thus  it 
happens  that  in  many  of  his  philosophical  writings 
the  number  of  foreign  terms  is  very  limited,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  Timaeus.  Often  he  feels  con- 
strained to  plead  some  excuse  for  his  novel  experi- 
ments, as  De  Nat.  Deor.  8,  18  :  "  Stoicorum  Trpovoiai/, 
quam  Latine  licet  providentiam  dicere  ";  Acad,  i,  40: 
*'  Quam  illi  (pai/rao-iai/  (appellant),  nos  visum  appel- 
lemus  licet";  De  Fin.  iii,  6,  21 :  '*  Quod  cum  posi- 
tum  sit  in  eo,  quod  ofxoXoylocv  Stoici  appellant,  nos 
appellemus  convenientiam,  si  placet."  He  expresses 
himself  again  differently  (De  Fin.  iii,  16,  53): 
**  Quod  enim  illi  ol$ioc(popov  dicunt,  id  mihi  ita  occurrit, 
ut  indifferens  dicerem,"  or  Top.  8,  35:  "Quam 
Graeci  iTVfxoXoyUv  vocant,  id  est  verbum  ex  verbo 
veriloquium,  nos  autem  novitatem  verbi  non  satis 
apti  fugientes  hoc  genus  notationem  appellemus." 
In  other  places  he  adds  some  qualification  intro- 
duced by  quidant  or  quasi,  as,  for  instance,  when  he 
translates  the  Greek  word  -KOiOTy^c;  (De  Nat.  Deor. 
ii,  94;  Acad,  i,  24  ff.):  *'  Id  corpus  et  quasi  quali- 
tatem  quandam  nominabant."    He  seldom  contents 


I90     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

himself  with  the  simple  conjunctive  of  demand  as 
De  Fin.  iv,  27,  74:  '*  Haec  paradoxa  illi  (dicunt), 
nos  admirabilia  dicamus  ";  similarly  we  do  not  often 
find  him  setting  the  Latin  expression  before  the 
Greek,  as  De  Leg.  ii,  13,  32:  "  Divinatio,  quam 
Graeci  |uakTi)c^'i/  appellant,"  or  De  Div.  60,  124:  "Con- 
venientia  naturae,  quam  vocant  (ru/A7ra0£tak  Graeci. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  sometimes  prefers,  in  cases 
when  he  cannot  translate  quite  literally,  to  use  a 
circumlocution,  as  De  Fin.  iii,  4,  14:  **  Equidem 
soleo  etiam  quod  uno  Graeci,  si  aliter  non  possum, 
idem  pluribus  verbis  exponere,"  and  De  optimo 
gen.  die.  14:  **  Ne  converti  ut  interpres,  sed  ut 
orator,  sententiis  isdem  et  earum  formis  tamquam 
figuris,  verbis  ad  nostram  consuetudinem  aptis;  in 
quibus  non  verbum  pro  verbo  necesse  habui  reddere, 
sed  genus  omne  verborum  vimque  servavi."  Hence 
he  sometimes  leaves  us  the  choice  between  two 
forms,  as  in  Timaeus  4 :  *'  Quae  Graece  aj/aXoyta, 
Latine — audendum  enim  est,  quoniam  haec  primum 
a  nobis  novantur — comparatio  proportiove  dici 
potest." 

118.  These  examples  may  serve  to  show  how 
careful  Cicero  was,  alike  in  his  new  formations  of 
words,  and  in  his  employment  of  expressions  in 
novel  and  metaphorical  tenses.  This  characteristic 
is  rendered  clearer  by  a  comparison  with  other 
passages,  in  which  no  question  arises  of  the  mere 
transference  of  foreign  names  to  express  his  ideas. 
In  De  Or.  iii,  41,  165,  he  lays  down  the  following 
precept  for  the  orator:  "  Si  vereare,  ne  paulo  durior 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


191 


translatio  esse  videatur,  moUienda  est  proposito 
verbo  (ut  ita  dicam)."  Besides,  in  his  De  Nat.  Deor. 
i,  34,  95,  speaking  of  the  words  beatitas  2SiA  beatitudOy 
he  adds:  '*  Utrumque  omnino  durum"  (possibly 
thinking  of  the  recurrence  of  t  in  the  medial  syl- 
lables) *'  sed  non  mollienda  nobis  sunt.*'  Lastly,  a 
passage  in  his  correspondence  with  Tiro  (Ad  Fam. 
xvi,  17,  i)  shows  us  how  carefully  he  strove  to 
maintain  his  principles  in  this  respect.  In  that  place 
hespeaksof  theadverbyf^(^/2V^r in  thephrase  "fideliter 
inservire  valetudini "  to  observe  the  laws  of  health. 
He  remarks  that  the  strict  application  of  this  word 
is  to  matters  of  duty :  at  the  same  time  there  are 
many  occasions  for  transference  of  meaning  *'  verbo 
mierationes  sunt  in  alienum  multae,"  for  the  word 
*'  faithful  "  or  **  genuine  "  might  be  applied  equally 
to  education,  to  a  house,  to  art,  and  even  to  agri- 
culture, so  that  the  metaphorical  meaning  of  the 
word  is  hardly  felt  (verecundus). 


119.  The  same  principles  which  guided  their 
choice  of  words  were  observed  by  Caesar  and  Cicero 
in  their  use  of  inflexional  forms.  In  this  case,  too, 
they  took  care  to  avoid  formations  which  were  either 
antiquated  or  vulgar.  In  Sallust,  genitives  like 
senatly  tumulti,  and  in  the  case  of  vowels,  such  forms 
as  lubido  and  optumus  are  quite  common;  again,  in 
Nepos,  such  forms  as  lacrumo,  tiltumuSy  face=fac, 
parserat  =  pepercerat  and  other  similar  formations 
occur,  bearing  an  archaic  stamp,  and  actually 
deemed  worthy  of  an  apology  by  the  writer,  on  the 


192     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ground  that  the  style  of  history  was  still  rude  and 
incorrMptum  when  compared  with  the  rhetorical  and 
philosophical    style   ennobled   by    Cicero.     But   in 
Caesar's    Commentaries,  and  in  the  speeches  and 
treatises  of  Cicero,  little  can  be  found  which  bears 
the  slightest  trace  of  such  archaisms.    The  perfect 
forms  ending  in  -re   instead   of  -rmit   are   rarely 
found  in  either,  and  in  Caesar  especially  the  proofs 
of  their   existence   are   far   from    certain.     In    the 
**  Bell.  Gall."    the  form  -erunt   occurs  some   three 
hundred  and  ninety  or  four  hundred  times,  while, 
according  to  one  class  of  MSS.,  a  formation  in  -ere 
occurs  once  only  {vertere,  iii,  21,  i);  the  rest  show 
three  cases  of  the  same  form  (i,  32,  3;  ii,  n,  6;  vi, 
8,  6),  while  in  the  "  Bell.  Civ.,"  two  cases  alone,  viz., 
stistimiere,  i,  5^  5.  and  accessere,  iii,  63,  6,  have  been 
at  all  creditably  attested.     Further, >r^w  is  hardly 
ever  substituted  for  essem  in  these  two  authors,  and 
verbs  joined  with  reflexive  pronouns  instead  of  the 
reflexive  passive,  as  se  flectere=flecti,  seldom  meet 
us  in  either:    participles  perfect  of  deponents   are 
used  only  in  the  case  of  a  few  words  in  a  passive 
sense  (cf.  emeritus,  pacttis,  partitus,  and  the  forms 
mentioned  above,  dimensus,  meditattis,  and  adeptus). 
Such  middle  voice  formations  as  raius  =  arbitratus, 
pertaesMS.  "  annoyed  ^X.:' perosus,  -hating"  are  care- 
fully avoided.     In  the  case  of  declensions  it  is  re- 
markable that,  according  to  Gellius,  Caesar  preferred 
the  older  genitive  form  acie  to  aciei,  and  that  Cicero 
wrote  on  several  occasions  senati  (Divin.  in  Caec.  5, 
19;  Phil,  iii,  15.  38;  De  Har.  Resp.  8,   14,  and  in 
some  passages  of  his  letters). 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  193 

1 20.  Greek  terminations  are  but  rarely  admitted 
by  either  writer,  and  then  only  in  the  case  of  Greek 
names  like  Salamis  (ace.  Salamina,  Tusc.  i,  46),  or 
in  that  of  appellatives,  as  in  Bell.  Gall,  i,  52,  5, 
phala7tges,  ox phalanga.  Whether  Caesar,  like  Tacitus 
and  other  historians,  formed  the  accusative  plural 
of  Gallic  and  other  foreign  tribes  in  -as  {e.g,,  in 
Tacitus  we  find  Brigantas,  Nemetas,  Siluras,  Van- 
gionas)  cannot,  in  view  of  the  uncertainty  of  MS. 
tradition,  be  definitely  ascertained.  As  against  thirty 
accusatives  in  -es  occurring  in  Bell.  Gall.,  the  termina- 
tion -as  can  claim  to  have  been  used  in  two  places 
only  in  both  classes  of  MSS.  (i,  26,  6,  Lingonas\ 
and  iii,  7,  4,  Curiosolitas — besides  this  three  times  in 
a,  seven  times  in  jS :  cf.  further  Bell.  Civ.  35, 4,  Sallyas) : 
but  even  here  it  is  possible  that  the  termination  may 
be  due  to  the  negligence  of  the  scribe. 

Pronominal  forms,  like  the  datives  singular  alterae 
(Bell.  Gall,  v,  27,  5),  nullo  (Bell.  Gall,  vi,  13,  i; 
Bell.  Civ.  ii,  7,  i),  altera  (Cic.  De  Nat.  Deor.  ii, 
66  Schn.,  Baiter  reads  alteri),  and  the  genitives 
nulli  (Cic.  Rose.  Com.  48),  aliae  (Cic.  De  Div. 
ii,  30),  especially  in  the  passages  from  Caesar, 
are  quite  uncertain  readings  :  finally  the  adverbial 
ending  -iter,  connected  with  adjectives  of  the  second 
declension,  appears  very  seldom.  In  Cicero's 
speeches  and  philosophical  writings  we  always  read 
dure  [not  duriter\  large,  kumaize,  etc.,  andyfr;;^^,  too, 
occurs  more  frequently  \h2sifir1niter,  which  is  found 
Rep.  i,  69  and  vi,  2\  only  in  the  Letters  do  we 
meet  this  suffix  with  any  frequency  [Jiumaniter  in 
Ad  Fam.  vii,  9 ;  Ad  Att.  i,  2 ;  Ad  Quint.  Fr.  li,  11: 

o 


194     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

cf.  too'  Helmuth,  **Acta  Sem.  Phil.,"  Erlang.,  i, 
114);  but  in  Caesar  such  formations  are  rarely 
found,  e.g.,  firmiter,  iv,  26,  i,  and  largiter,  i,  18,  6; 
duriter  and  humaniter  are  not  represented. 


121.  Nor  was  more  licence  permitted  in  the  syn- 
tax than  in  the  inflexions.    Collocations,  such  as  that 
of  eo  with  the  factitive  genitive  {eo  te^neritatis  pro- 
gressus  est  =  ad  earn  temeritatem  progressus  est),  which 
are  common  alike  to  old  Latin,  to  the  popular  dia- 
lect, and  to  silver  Latinity,  are  not  found  either  in 
Cicero  or  in  Caesar:    the  same  observation  holds 
good  with  respect  to  the  distributive  genitive  after 
the  neuter  singular  or  neuter  plural  of  an  adjective. 
The  genitive  of  definition,  especially  in  the  case  of 
place-names,  a  construction  avoided  by  Caesar,  is 
not  certainly  proved  to  be  used  by  Cicero  (for  in 
oppido  Antiochiae,  Ad  Att.  v,  18,  i,  Heraeus  reads 
in  oppido  Antiockid).    The  present  participle    fol- 
lowed  by  the  genitive  of  a  substantive   occurs   in 
Caesar   in    one  passage    only.   Bell.    Civ.    i,   69,   3 
{/ugiens  laboris),  and    Cicero    employs  this  in    his 
philosophical  works  only  (see,  however,  De  Imp.  Cn. 
Pomp.  3,  7;  Pro  Plane.  5,  13).     The  genitive  of  the 
gerund  and  of  the  gerundive  after  relative  adjec- 
tives, a  construction  which  is  not  found  in  Plautus 
at  all,  occurs  but  rarely  in  the  case  of  either  of  the 
authors  mentioned  (cf.  Bell.  Gall,  i,  2,  4,  Cupidus  bet- 
landi]  v,   6,   3,  insuetus  navigandi)\   while,  on  the 
other    hand,    it    frequently    occurs    in    Livy    and 
Tacitus. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  195 

122.    The  dative  of  the  gerund  employed  after 
adjectives,  a  favourite  construction  with  later  writers, 
is  only  used  by  the  historian  after  the  word  par,  by 
the  philosopher  and  orator  only  after  accommodatus: 
but  the  modal  usage  of  the  ablative  form  of  the 
gerund,  which  became  more  and  more  frequent  after 
Livy  s  time,  so  that  it  has  actually  passed  into  the 
Romance  languages,  is  unknown  to  both  alike.   The 
accusative,  commonly  called  the  accusative  of  re- 
spect, dependent  on  a  perfect  participle  passive,  in 
such  phrases  z.s  pulvere  caput  conspersus,  found  in 
different  authors  since  Plautus  and  Ennius,  seems  to 
have   been    unknown  to  both  Caesar  and  Cicero. 
The  so-called  Greek  accusative  can  only  be  attri- 
buted to  Caesar  if  we  count  as  such  the  expression 
maximam  partem,    Bell.    Gall,  iv,    i,  8,    and    it   is 
scarcely  found  in  Cicero.    Caesar,  in  Bell.  Civ.  iii, 
88,  2,  and  there  only,  connects  a  singular  subject  to 
which  is  attached  an  attribute  with  the  preposition 
cum  with  the  plural  of  the  verb  {Ciciliensis  legio  con- 
iuncta  cum  cohortibus  Hispanis  in  dextro  cornu  posi- 
tae  erant) :  Cicero,  too,  is  chary  of  such  use,  e.g., 
Phil.  12,  27;    Fam.  xiv,  7,  2  (cf.  too  Lehmann  on 
Cicero's  Epistles,  p.  222);  but  this  construction  is 
found  often  enough  in  Cato,  Sallust,  Livy,  and  others. 
The  use  of  the  plural  of  a  verb  after  a  collective 
substantive  as    subject   seems   foreign    to   Caesar, 
though  the  different  editions  of  his  works  afford  a 
few  examples  of  such  construction  (cf.  Meusel  im 
Jahresberichte  des  philolog.  Vereins  zu  Berlin,  xx, 
1894,  P-  263):  it  is  also  to  be  remarked  that  we  do 
not  find  many  instances  of  the  supine  in  -um  fol- 


196     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

lowed  by  an  accusative,  as  in  Bell.  Gall,  i,   ii,   2, 
auxilium  rogatum\  31,  9,  auxilium  postulatum\  vii, 
5,  2,  subsidium  rogatum).    A  noun  connected  with  a 
preposition  governing  another  noun  [as,  for  instance, 
'•Every   man    in    England"]    is    seldom    found   in 
classical  prose  without  a  participle  to  support  it,  as, 
for  instance, ''  oratio  pro  Milone  habita,"  **  epistulae 
ad  Atticum  datae.'*    [Exceptions:    (i)  Verbal  sub- 
stantives, as  "  Rogatio  de  bello,"  "  adventus  in  Gal- 
liam."    (2)  Substantives  expressing  mental  emotion 
or  service  rendered,  e.g.,  "  pietas  erga  parentes :  bene- 
ficium  in  Siculos."    Moreover,  Caesar  us^sfa^na  de 
and  nuntius  de  without  a  supporting  participle :  and 
Livy  has  '•  pugna  ad  Trebiam."]    And  when  such 
participle  is  not  added,  the  noun  and  preposition 
are  commonly  inserted  between  the  attribute  and 
the  substantive,  as  Bell.  Gall,  v,  13,  i,  "  omnes  ex 
Gallia  naves,"  and  in  the  same  section  4,  '^Certis  ex 
aqua  mensuris":    Bell.  Civ.  ii,  37,  2  ('*  Caesaris  in 
Hispania  res  secundae"). 

123.  The  following  peculiarities  in  the  use  of  pre- 
positions seem  worth  mentioning.  Ante  is  not  used 
to  indicate  preference,  intra  is  seldom  used  of  time 
(Bell.  Gall,  vi,  21,  5);  ad  in  a  modal  sense,  except- 
ing in  Cicero's  juvenile  writings,  only  occurs  in  the 
standing  formula  quemadmodum.  The  negative 
particle  kaud,  a  favourite  word  of  Livy  and  Tacitus, 
occurs  in  Caesar  only  in  the  phrase  ''  haud  scio  an," 
Bell.  Gall,  v,  54,  4,  and  in  Cicero  only  when  set  in  con- 
nection with  single  adjectives  and  adverbs,  as  kaud 
facile,  haud  sane. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


197 


Sometimes  we  find  great  discrepancies  in  the  lin- 
guistic usages  of  the  two  great  classic  prose  writers. 
For  instance,  the  so-called  Greek  dative  (as  in 
"  mihi  consultum  ac  provisum  est,"  Cic.  Catil.  1 2, 
26)  occurs  very  frequently  in  Cicero,  while  in  Caesar 
two  examples  only  are  to  be  found,  viz.  Bell.  Gall. 
vii,  20,  and  Bell.  Civ.  i,  6  (cf.,  too,  Tillmann,  ''  Acta 
sem.  phil.,"  Erlang.  ii,  79  sqq.).  Again,  we  meet  with 
the  temporal  use  of  sub  not  unfrequently  in  the  Com- 
mentaries, and  also  with  the  word  propritis  used  in 
the  sense  of  relation  (nearer),  which  Cicero  does  not 
use.  Again,  in  Caesar  we  meet  with  frequent  cases 
in  which  the  same  substantive  occurs  connected 
with  both  a  ''subjective"  and  an  *'  objective"  geni- 
tive; for  instance,  Bell.  Gall,  i,  30,  "veteres  Helve- 
tiorum  iniuriae  populi  Romani "  ['*  The  ancient 
wrongs  done  by  the  Helvetii  to  the  Roman  people  "]. 
This  construction  is  more  rarely  found  in  Cicero, 
e.g.,  De  Off.  i,  43  (cf.  too  Andresen  on  Cicero  s 
Epistles,  p.  186). 


124.  Syntactic  combinations,  resembling  those 
found  in  the  popular  dialect,  meet  us  in  Caesar  s 
Commentaries  oftener  than  in  Cicero's  speeches 
and  philosophical  works.  One  of  these  is  the  em- 
ployment of  the  reflexive  pronoun — instead  of  the 
determinatival — not  referring  to  the  subject  of  the 
same  sentence,  as  Bell.  Gall,  vi,  9,  2,  "quarum 
(causarum)  erat  altera,  quod  auxilia  contra  se  mise- 
rant "  [because  they  had  sent  forces  against  him] : 
so  again  Bell.  Civ.  iii,  53,  5:  '*quem  Caesar,  ut  erat 
de  se  meritus,  ad  primipilum  se  transducere  pronun- 


198     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

tiavit "  [in  which  case  for  se  we  should  expect  ilium]. 
Cf.  Cicero,  Verr.  49,  128,  and  Pro  Roscio  Amerino, 
2,  6,  both,  it  should  be  remarked,  productions  of  the 
author's  youthful  style.  Conversely,  Caesar  uses  the 
determinative  instead  of  the  reflexive  (as  in  Bell. 
Civ.  i,  2,  2>7^  ^b  eo  =  a  se:  i,  35,  4;  iii,  75,  2,  and 
several  times  in  the  "  Bellum  Gallicum":  cf  Cic. 
Verr.  i,  86).  Then  he  employs  constructions  of 
attraction  as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  39,  6:  "se  rem  frumen- 
tariam  ut  satis  commode  supportari  posset,  timere 
dicebant'*  (and  Cic.  Ad  Att.  14,  21,  "  nosti  virum 
quam  tectus  ") :  the  connection  o{  multus  with  sin- 
gular words  like  dies  and  nox  {e.g.y  multo  die,  Bell. 
Gall,  i,  22,  4  :  ad mullam  noctem,  i,  26,  3):  persuasum 
mihi  habeOy  Bell.  Gall,  iii,  2,  5  :  insertion  of  the  word 
credo  Bell.  Civ.  ii,  31  :  quo  maiorem,  credo,  licentiam 
habeant:  the  construction  of  {prae)  optare  with  the 
infinitive  (Bell.  Gall,  i,  25,  4)  found  also  in  Hirtius 
(Bell.  Gall,  viii,  9,  2):  the  double  accusative  in  the 
case  of  velle  aliquem  aligtiid  (Bell.  Gall,  i,  32,  2 :  cf 
Terence  And.  536,  and  Phorm.  151).  The  union  of 
a  sentence  containing  a  condition  with  an  imperative 
is  exceptional  in  Caesar,  as  in  Bell.  Gall,  iv,  25: 
"  Desilite,  nisi  vultis  aquilam  prodere "  (although 
such  sentences  are  characteristic  of  popular  language 
yet  they  are  occasionally  admitted  into  Cicero's 
speeches) :  as  is  also  the  employment  of  the  conjunc- 
tive in  iteratival  sentences  as  Bell.  Gall,  v,  35:  **sin 
autem  locum  tenere  vellent,  nee  virtuti  locus  relin- 
quebatur  neque  tela  vitare  poterant." 

There  are  also  other  respects  in  which  differences 
in  the  linguistic  usages  of  these  two  authors  are 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


199 


noticeable.  In  Caesar,  si  is  common  after  words  of 
expecting  and  attempting:  this  construction  is  more 
commonly  found  in  Cicero's  letters  [thus  '^conabor 
an  possim"  would  be  the  regular  construction]. 
Nomie,  in  indirect  questions,  is  known  to  Cicero 
only,  as  is  the  use  of  the  logical  perfect  in  a  gnomic 
sense  [as  "  multi  cum  obesse  vellent,  profuerunt,  et 
cum  prodesse  obfuerunt,"  De  Nat.  Deor.  3,  70],  and 
the  dependent  conjunctive  of  unrealized  conditions 
in  the  periphrastic  conjugation  in  -urns  fuerim  {e.g,. 
Pro  Mil.  33;  Verr.  ii,  108;  Phil,  ix,  i),  [as  **quaero 
nonne  tibi  faciendum  idem  sit,"  De  Fin.  3,  13]. 
Caesar  says  "confidere  alicui,"  but  "aliqua  re," 
Cicero  more  frequently  puts  the  thing  in  the  dative. 
The  figiira  etyrnologica,  as  it  is  called,  is  not  found 
in  the  Commentaries  (for  expressions  like  "tridui 
viam  progressi,"  Bell.  Gall.  4,  5,  contain  simply  an 
accusative  of  space).  In  Cicero,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  figure  is  far  from  uncommon.  In  certain  cases 
where  the  participle  belonged  to  the  construction 
with  the  accusative  and  infinitive,  Caesar  seems  to 
have  introduced  a  new  construction  by  not  placing 
this  participle,  where  it  would  naturally  fall,  in  the 
accusative,  but  by  adopting  it  as  the  subject  of  the 
main  sentence:  and  this  construction  is  known  to 
Sallust  and  Livy.  An  instance  of  this  is  found  in 
Bell.  Gall,  v,  39,  4,  ''  Hanc  adepti  victoriam  in  per- 
petuum  se  fore  victores  confidebant "  (in  which  pas- 
sage some  editors  read  adeptos).  Of  the  supines  in 
'U,  Caesar  admits,  besides  natu,  only  factu  (iv,  30,  2) 
and  aspectu  (v,  14,  2).  Cicero,  on  the  other  hand, 
exhibits  no  less  than  twenty-four  different  formations 


200     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

from  the  same  supine,  as  audiht,  dictu,  memoratu, 
visu,  cognitu,  intelledUy  scitu\  at  the  same  time  he 
favours  far  less  than  Caesar  the  construction  with 
the  gerundive,  which  occurs  no  less  than  sixty-five 
times  in  the  '*  Bellum  Gallicum  "  (seventeen  of  these 
are  in  the  eighth  book)  and  thirty-nine  times  in  the 
**  Bellum  Civile."  Further,  the  use  of  the  ablative 
absolute  to  express  emphasis,  in  the  place  of  the 
mere  connecting  participle,  is  relatively  more  fre- 
quent in  the  Commentaries  than  in  the  speeches  and 
treatises  of  Cicero,  ^.^.,  Bell.  Gall,  iii,  14,4;  iv,  12,  i; 
21,  6;  V,  4,  3. 


125.  The  greatest  contrast,  however,  between 
these  two  classic  authors  manifests  itself  in  their 
respective  styles  and  their  individual  peculiarities. 
In  Caesar  we  are  frequently  called  to  notice  the 
occurrence  of  the  so-called  present  of  narration, 
which  meets  us  in  nearly  every  section,  and  the 
frequent  use  of  the  historical  infinitive.  This  latter 
occurs  at  least  ten  times  (six  in  the  Bell.  Gall,  i, 
0,  I;  32,  3;  ii»  30»  3;  iii>  4.  2;  v,  6,  4;  33,  i), 
though  not  nearly  as  often  as  in  Sallust:  for  the 
latter  writer,  besides  many  instances  of  present 
tenses  of  narration,  has  employed  four  hundred  and 
fifty-two  such  infinitives.  Polysyndeton  is  in  Caesar 
exceptional  (as  in  Bell.  Gall,  iv,  24,  simul  et  ,  .  ,  ei 
.  .  .  ei) :  but  asyndeton  quite  usual ;  this  figure  ex- 
presses either  haste  (as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  7,  20,  22,  etc.), 
or  serves  to  mark  a  contrast  (as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  i,  18; 
vii,  50,  76,  and  Bell.  Civ.  iii,  36,  8),  or  it  may  be  to 
exaggerate  such  contrast  (as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  32,  39), 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


201 


or  to  emphasize  it  (as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  5,  20;  vii,  59,  77), 
or  to  mark  a  sequence  (as  in  Bell.  Gall,  viii,  25,  45), 
or  a  further  explanation  (as  in  Bell.  Gall,  iv,  27;  v, 
30;  vi,  28).  Anaphora,  too,  and  chiasmus,  are  favour- 
ite figures  of  this  writer;  chiasmus  occurs  in  Bell. 
Gall,  ii,  10;  vi,  12,  16;  vii,  i,  42,  47,  63,  66,  80: 
anaphora  in  v,  6;  vi,  21,  25,  26,  32,  34,  35,  36;  vii, 
20,  28,  32,  2,Z.  38,  52,  59»  66;  Bell.  Civ.  ii,  2>7^  6,  etc. 
So  often  do  these  figures  occur  in  Roman  writers 
that  they  are  called  by  Nagelsbach*  "  the  forces  that 
regulate  the  organism  of  the  Latin  sentence." 

126.  It  is  to  his  effort  for  clearness  that  we  must 
ascribe  the  marked  pleonastic  traits  of  Caesar's  style. 
The  redundancy  of  his  expressions  is  sometimes 
visible  in  grammatical,  sometimes  in  rhetorical,  pecu- 
liarities. To  the  former  we  must  set  down  such 
cases  as  "postridie  eius  diei  "  (Bell.  Gall,  i,  23,  and 
six  times  besides),  "pridie  eius  diei  "  (Bell.  Gall. 
47,  2,  and  Bell.  Civ.  i,  14,  3):  also  the  repetition  of 
the  substantive  in  relative  sentences,  probably  after 
the  model  of  the  ancient  Curial  style,  especially  in 
the  case  of  res,  lex,  pons,  locus,  dies,  iter  (e,g,,  Bell. 
Gall,  i,  6,  4;  16,  5;  49,  i;  iii,  3,  i;  iv,  7;  v,  2;  vii, 
72,  i),  propterea  ^zwd used  in  the  sense  of  simple  ^tiod 
(Bell.  Gall,  ii,  4,  4;  iii,  21,  3,  etc.;  fourteen  times  in 
the  first  book  alone);  '* permittere,  ut  liceat,"  i.e., 
**alicuius  voluntate"  (Bell.  Gall,  i,  7,3;  30,4;  35,3; 
39,  3,  etc.) ;  r/^r^^j  occurring  in  connection  with  com- 
pounds with  re,  as  se  recipere  (Bell.  Gall,  v,  34,  4), 


*  <t 


Lateinische  Stylistik." 


202     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

renovare  (Bell.  Civ.  ii,  93,  i),  redmere  (Bell.  Gall, 
vii,  9,  6),  reverti  (Bell.  Gall,  iv,  4,  4) :  besides  animo 
joined  to  verbs  expressive  of  some  mental  concep- 
tion zs  providere  i^^.  Gall,  vii,  30,  2),  circumspicere 
(vi,  5»  3),  laborare  (vii,  3,  i),perturbari(\iy  21,  2):  the 
supine ya:^/^^  in  connection  with  the  adjective  derived 
from  the  etymologically  related  adjective ya^z7(?  (Bell. 
Gall,  i,  3,  6;  iv,  30,  2;  vii,  64,  2);  the  double  expres- 
sion for  diminutives  (Bell.  Civ.  iii,  104,  3) ;  **  navicula 
parvula"  (cf.  Bell.  Afr.  54,  i  "causula  parvula" 
and  63,  I  **navigiolum  parvulum");  *' interea  dum 
haec  geruntur"  (Bell.  Gall,  vii,  i,  etc.).  A  rhetorical 
pleonasm  occurs,  Bell.  Gall,  vi,  28,  i  (''specie  et 
colore  et  figura  tueri").  Bell.  Gall,  vii,  18,  3,  '^carros 
impedimentaque "  (species  and  genus);  Bell.  Civ. 
i,  21,  2,  "portae  murique  "  (the  parts  and  the  whole), 
Bell.  Gall,  vi,  15,  2,  "  ambacti  clientesque  "  (foreign 
word  and  Latin  expression);  Bell.  Gall.  26,  3, 
**  familiares  necessariique  *'  (synonymous  ideas).  One 
kind  of  rhetorical  pleonasm  is  the  so-called  hendi- 
adys,  which  is  far  from  common  in  old  Latin  (cf. 
*'per  contemptum  et  superbiam,"  "in  proud  con- 
tempt" in  Claud.  Quadrigarius),  and  only  de- 
veloped gradually.  For  instance,  Ennius  has  the 
phrase  *'  otium  otiosum  " :  from  the  next  stage,  "sum- 
mum  otium,"  was  developed  the  twofold  expression 
**  pax  et  otium ''  or  "  otium  et  tranquillitas." 

Other  instances  from  Caesar's  writings  exemplify 
the  same  peculiarities,  as  Bell.  Gall,  i,  2,  5,  "  Gloria 
belli  atque  fortitudinis" ;  31,  12,  '*omnia  exempla 
cruciatusque  edere";  iv,  18,  3,  "in  solitudinem  ac 
silvas";  v,  19,  3,  "labore  atque  itinere";  Bell.  Civ. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


203 


i,  13,  '*oppido  moenibusque  prohibere";  Bell.  Gall, 
vii,  33,  I,  "vis  atque  arma";  iv,  17,  5,  "vis  atque 
impetus";  vi,  14,6,  "  vis  ac  potestas  *';  iii,  13,  3,  "vis 
et  contumelia,"  etc.  The  same  holds  good  of  verbal 
phrases  like  "  cogere  et  conducere,"  Bell.  Gall,  ii, 
2,  4;  "conferre  et  comportare,"  i,  16,  4;  "coactus 
contractusque,"  iv,  22  ;  "  interdicere  atque  imperare," 
V,  22,  5,  etc.:  on  the  other  hand  the  well-known 
formula  "fundere  et  fugare"  is  not  found  in  Caesar. 
Similarly  the  epithet  immortales  added  to  di  is  a 
species  of  pleonasm  (Bell.  Civ.  ii,  5,  3,  etc.). 


127.  With  Cicero  it  is  different.  We  cannot  deny 
that  he  shares  with  Caesar  some  of  the  peculiarities 
just  mentioned,  as,  for  instance,  the  use  of  the  hen- 
diadys:  but,  in  his  quality  of  orator  and  philosopher 
he  exhibits  many  characteristics  of  style  which  do 
not  meet  us  in  the  Commentaries,  or  if  they  do,  are 
clearly  quite  exceptional.  In  Cicero,  we  remark  in 
the  first  place  a  large  number  of  abstract  substan- 
tives connected  with  transitive  verbs  as  active  sub- 
jects: such  are  audaciay  fortitudo,  constantia,  invidia, 
valetudoy  improbitas,  etc.,  and  very  often  we  find  an 
abstract  noun  in  the  plural  to  produce  an  impression 
of  oratorical  redundancy.  Next,  he  is  very  partial 
to  the  figure  called  enthymeme  {argumentum  ex  con^ 
trario:  cf.  e,g.  Pro  Milone,  13,  44,  90,  92,  loi;  Pro 
Archia,  10,  19,  25,  30):  and,  generally  speaking,  he 
attaches  great  weight  to  rhetorical  artifices  produc- 
tive of  effect.  He  offers  us  unbidden  a  peep  into  his 
workshop.  He  tells  his  friend  Atticus  (Ad  Att.  ii,  i) 
that  on  this  occasion  he  has  exhausted  the  whole 


204  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 


stock  of  Isocrates'  ointment  and  all  the  samples  of 
his  disciples:  and  he  writes  to  the  same  friend 
(i,  14):  **  If  ever  I  had  command  of  periods,  of  daring 
turns  of  oratory,  of  logic  and  of  rhetorical  figures, 
it  was  on  that  day.  The  applause  was  deafening." 
He  is  referring  to  the  day  on  which  he  was  anxious 
to  plume  himself  on  his  consulate  in  the  presence  of 
Pompey.  This  is  the  language  in  which  Cicero 
most  aptly  describes  the  most  potent  instruments 
of  his  eloquence;  and  it  is  not  without  signi- 
ficance that  the  German  expression  **verblumte 
Rede,"  "  Flowers  of  speech,"  came  into  use  just 
when  the  grand  Ciceronian  style  had  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Humanists,  and  when  every  one  made 
it  his  pride  to  show  off  "flores  Latini,"  following 
Cicero's  counsel,  **  Oratio  sit  ornata."  Such  was  the 
main  principle  of  Roman  orators  and  of  the  writers 
of  the  Renascence.  Their  object  was  to  turn  to 
practical  advantage  the  different  elements  of  learn- 
ing which  they  were  busily  assimilating  and  then 
disseminating.  They  thus  found  it  to  their  interest, 
as  Schiller  says,  **to  appeal  to  the  senses  and  to 
call  impressionism  to  their  aid."  Now  the  easiest 
way  of  attaining  this  end  was  by  personifying  the 
objects  of  which  they  treated,  and  by  the  employ- 
ment of  figurative  or  "  improper  "  expressions.  The 
first  method  served  to  enhance,  the  second  to  pro- 
duce, the  perceptive  faculty.  Those  who  would 
study  Cicero's  stylistic  methods  as  interpreted  by 
a  modern  imitator,  will  find  this  interpreter  in 
Lessing,  whose  style  is  largely  tinged  with  the 
colours  of  ancient  rhetoric,  and  shows   each   and 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


20 


every  form  of  the  Roman  methods  of  argument. 
Those  frequently  recurring  rhetorical  figures,  inter- 
jections, repetitions  of  single  words  and  phrases, 
the  lifelike  personifications,  the  sudden  precipitation 
of  some  general  reflection  into  the  matter  of  the 
debate,  and,  closely  following  thereon,  and  in  sharp 
contrast  thereto,  the  expression  of  doubt  (cf.  Kett- 
ner,  ''  Herder's  erstes  kritisches  Waldchen,"  Naum- 
burg,  1887,  p.  9). 


128.  The  Roman  loves  to  fancy  himself  pitted 
against  an  adversary  with  whom  he  is  engaged  in 
debate,  and  this  even  in  a  philosophical  treatise  like 
Cicero's  ''  De  Senectute."  With  the  adversary  of  his 
imagination  he  chops  logic,  refutes  arguments,  con- 
tradicts him,  scathes  him  with  irony.  Hence  the 
frequent  intercalated  sentences  beginning  with  a^ : 
hence  the  recurrence  of  '*dixerit  quispiam,"  ''dicet 
aliquis,"  etc.  In  Cicero's  time  rhythm  and  accent 
were  more  rigorously  observed  than  ever  before. 
The  cadences  of  poetry  and  such  reminiscences  of 
hexameter  verse  as  **esse  videtur"  were  avoided 
either  by  changing  the  order  of  the  words,  or  by 
other  means:  on  the  other  hand  it  was  held  per- 
missible and  even  recommendable  to  round  off 
periods  by  words  like  pu^Oy  ardzh^or,  video,  etc.,  e.j^., 
Verr.  iv,  i,  i ;  Pro  Rose.  Am.  53,  153  ;*  words  which 
were  superfluous  for  the  expression  of  the  sense  in- 

*  Besides  the  famous  "esse  videatur,"  a  favourite  ending  in 
Cicero  is  that  which  scans  -w--w--^-  cf.  "gloriam  comparan- 
dam."  Two  trochees  are  a  common  cadence  in  Livy;  e.g.,  in 
Bk.  i,  51,  we  find  ddvocdtilr^  mergeretur. 


2o6  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

tended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  orator,  and  were 
inserted  merely  with  the  idea  of  pleasantly  rounding 
off  a  sentence,  a  method  which  can  be  traced  in 
some  cases  even  in  Caius  Gracchus.  More  ponder- 
ous and  emphatic  words,  like  saepenumero  instead  of 
the  simple  word  saepe,  found  their  way  into  suitable 
places :  the  periods  became  full  and  rounded,  neatly 
and  evenly  constructed,  and  often  became  regular 
models  of  painstaking  industry  delicately  conceived 
and  carefully  carried  out.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  public  had  changed,  and  demanded  the  true 
oratorical  style  more  than  in  Cato's  time:  it  united 
an  augmented  interest  with  more  delicacy  of  ear 
and  a  greater  appreciation  of  rhetorical  technique 
(cf.  Cic.  Parad.  iii,  2,  26;  Hon  Ars  Poet.  112  sqq,)\ 
so  that  even  slight  faults  in  rhythm  or  prosody  were 
criticized  with  an  acuteness  worthy  of  Athens. 


129.  One  thing  more  remains  for  us  to  consider 
briefly — how  far  character  finds  its  interpretation  in 
the  writinors  of  the  two  authors  under  consideration. 
Boissier  says  of  Cicero:  *'  His  oratory  lacked  those 
very  elements  which  were  wanting  to  his  character. 
It  manifests  a  universal  want  of  decision  and  of 
preciseness.  Cicero  is  too  much  preoccupied  with 
his  own  personality,  too  little  occupied  with  his  sub- 
ject in  hand.  He  never  attacks  it  directly  and  from 
the  obvious  point  of  view.  He  loses  himself  in 
pompous  phraseology  instead  of  employing  the  exact 
and  luminous  language  of  actual  affairs.  If  we 
examine  his  speeches  critically  and  proceed  to  analyze 
them,  it  will  appear  that  they  contain  before  all  else 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


207 


much  rhetoric,  and  a  smattering  of  philosophy.  His 
rhetoric  is  the  parent  of  all  those  admirable  and 
startling  arguments,  of  those  delicate  points  of  dis- 
cussion, and  also  of  all  that  grand  exhibition  of 
pathos  which  his  oratory  exhibits.  To  his  philosophy 
he  owes  all  those  commonplaces  which  he  uses 
with  such  consummate  skill.  In  the  place  of  all  those 
lengthy  philosophical  tirades,  he  might  with  more 
advantage  have  presented  us  with  a  clear  and  in- 
telligible exposition  of  his  political  principles,  and 
of  the  general  ideas  which  govern  his  methods  of 
life." 

In  his  speeches  and  in  his  scientific  statements 
these  "lumina  orationis"  play  an  important  part; 
for  it  is  his  object  to  dazzle.  His  statements  express 
broad  and  easily  apprehended  effects:  he  appeals 
much  less  to  the  intellect  than  Caesar  or  Tacitus. 
But  his  instinct  for  form  is  so  strongly  developed, 
that  in  his  anxiety  to  attain  equipoise  in  the  con- 
struction of  his  periods  and  to  round  off  his  sen- 
tences, he  does  not  hesitate  to  condescend  to 
repetitions,  and  even  to  errors  in  language  (cf. 
H.  Peter,  '^Jahrb.  fiir  d.  Klass.  Altert."  i,  641). 
Vainglorious  as  he  is,  he  loves  to  harp  on  himself 
and  his  exploits:  he  possesses  also  the  art  of 
so  deftly  grouping  his  matter,  and  of  so  affecting 
his  hearers  by  the  glamour  of  his  diction,  that  he 
not  unfrequently  succeeded  in  winning  a  bad  case. 
Large  and  statesmanlike  thoughts  are  indeed  not 
often  found  in  his  speeches,  and,  what  is  more,  these 
speeches  are  often  deficient  in  convincing  and  accur- 
ate logic.    Thus,  as  it  was  matter  of  common  know- 


2o8  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

ledge  in  Rome  that  Cicero  was  more  fitted  to  awake 
emotions  and  to  appeal  to  sympathy,  than  to  arrange 
logical  arguments,  the  favourite  plan  was,  on  occa- 
sions when  several  advocates  were  employed  in  the 
same  case,  to  leave  him  to  make  the  final  speech. 

130.  Caesar  was  cast  in  a  different  mould.  Cool 
calculation  led  him  to  leave  unsaid  much  that  we 
should  like  to  have  heard  fall  from  his  lips,  but 
which  in  his  own  interest  is  better  left  unuttered. 
His  life,  like  his  deeds,  was  the  slave  of  no  emotion: 
his  words  are  the  dictates  of  his  intellect  alone: 
hence  his  sang-froid,  unpleasant  as  the  trait  fre- 
quently appears  to  us;  as  for  instance  when  he  can 
find  no  words  of  sympathy  for  the  death  of  his  arch- 
enemy, Pompey,  but  is  satisfied  with  the  curt  and 
bare  sentence :  **  ibi  ab  Achilla  et  Septimio  inter- 
ficitur"  (Bell.  Civ.  iii,  104,  3);  or  again,  when  he 
has  no  words  of  pity  for  the  sad  fate  of  the  last  hero 
of  Gaul,  Vercingetorix.  The  tact  which  he  displayed, 
enabling  him  with  a  single  word  to  attain  results 
almost  miraculous,  is  vouched  for  by  the  assurance 
given  us  by  Suetonius  that  he  on  many  occasions 
brought  his  soldiers  to  reason  by  merely  addressing 
them:  as  once  when  he  greeted  them  as  ''  Quirites!" 
(Suet.  Jul.  Caes.  c.  70),  and  again  when  he  called 
them  his  *^  commilitones  "  {ib.  c.  67).  Reserved  as 
he  was,  he  was  not  partial  to  the  flowers  of  oratory, 
in  fact  he  strove  to  keep  himself  free  from  their  in- 
fluence. If  there  be  any  justification  for  Vauvenar- 
gues*  assertion  that  great  men  speak  simply  and  as 
nature  dictates,  this  was  true  of  Caesar:  even  among 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE         209 

the  ancients  his  style  was  reckoned  simple  and  con- 
cise.   Cicero  expressly  remarks  (Brutus,  75,  262): 
"Etiam  commentarios  scripsit  rerum  suarum:  nihil 
est  brevitate  dulcius/'  Nothing  in  all  these  is  arti- 
ficial, nothing  is  ponderous:    but  in  his  efforts  to 
attain  clearness  he  sacrifices  even  elegance,  and  some- 
times even  terseness  of  expression.    His  style  lies 
midway  between  jejuneness  and   redundancy.    To 
vary  the  construction  of  his  sentences  is  not  his 
supreme  aim:   for  instance,  he  gives  us   a  string 
of  ablatives  absolute  (there  are  no  less  than  seven 
hundred  and    seventy   of    these   in   the    "  Bellum 
Gallicum  ").   Again,  he  is  not  so  careful  as  Cicero  to 
round  off  his  periods  and  to  bring  them  to  an  impres- 
sive close.  On  the  other  hand  he  avoids  parentheses 
and  anacolutha.    Freshness  and  straightforwardness 
are  the  mark  of  all  narrative  which  deals  with  events 
witnessed  by  the  narrator:  thus  Caesar's  diction  is, 
as  we  might  expect,  characterized  by  great  lucidity 
and  acuteness.    Besides  this,  his  facts  are  so  cleverly 
connected,  and  unimportant  matters  are  so  entirely 
thrown  into  the  background,  that  in  every  chapter 
of  his  work  we  hear  the  accents  of  the  trained  dip- 
lomat.   Ready  for  action  and  quick  of  movement 
as  he  was  on  the  battlefield,  he  was  none  the  less  so 
in  his  Commentaries,  which  exhibit  the  Aoyo?  a-Tpocriu)- 
Ttxou  di/^pog  (cf.   Plutarch,    Caes.   c.   3).     Quintilian 
also  dwells  on  the  fact  ('*Caesarem  eodem  animo 
dixisse  quo  bellavit").    We  may  recall  the  famous 
sentence  *'  veni,  vidi,  vici." 

We  may  gather  from  the  foregoing  that  this  pair 
of  classic  writers  are  models  of  style,  each  in  his  own 

p 


2IO   LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC. 

way.  Thus  the  remark  of  a  recent  commentator  holds 
good :  *  "  Whoever  is  anxious  to  obtain  a  mastery  of 
good  Latin  style  must  be  referred  to  Cicero  and 
Caesar  as  models  for  his  imitation.  For  simple 
historical  style  Caesar's  Commentaries  must  be  taken 
as  the  type  for  all  time:  for  speeches,  essays  and 
letters,  the  writings  of  Cicero,  because  in  them  the 
most  graceful  harmony  between  form  and  contents 
prevails." 

*  Schmalz,  p.  400,  Lat.  Syntax  in  Ivan  Miiller's  Handbuch. 


APPENDIX 

ROMAN  CULTURE  AS  REFLECTED  IN  THE  LATIN 

VOCABULARY 

THE  Latin  vocabulary,  no  less  than  the  style  of 
the  great  Latin  authors,  gives  us  an  insight 
into  Roman  culture.  The  latter,  however,  enables 
us  rather  to  judge  of  the  intellectual  characteristics, 
the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  several  epochs  which 
it  illustrates:  the  former  acquaints  us  with  their  man- 
ners and  customs,  their  plans  and  their  performances. 
We  discover  that  they  possess  much  in  common  with 
the  other  Indo-Germanic  peoples,  but  also  that  in 
many  respects  they  have  preferred  to  go  on  their  own 
way.  In  this  scrutiny  we  have  the  advantage  of 
being  able  to  examine  not  merely  their  circumstances 
as  attested  by  history,  but,  aided  by  etymology,  we 
are  actually  enabled  to  penetrate  into  periods  ante- 
cedent to  all  historical  records,  and  we  are  enabled 
to  throw  light  upon  events  in  the  development  of 
their  culture  and  their  history  which  have  come  to 
our  cognizance  by  this  way  only.  Lack  of  space, 
however,  forbids  us  travelling  over  all  this  ground  : 
we  can  therefore  aim  merely  at  touching  on  the  most 
striking  and  significant  cases,  and  even  these  we 
cannot   pretend    to  treat   exhaustively,  but  merely 

211 


if 


212     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

attempt  to  bring  into  relief  some  few  significant 
features,  and  thereby  prompt  our  readers  to  further 
independent  study  of  the  question. 

The   Praetor  takes   his   title   from  praeire,  and 
hence  the  word  is  employed  by  Cicero  and  Nepos 
alike  to  translate  the  word  o-TpaT>iyo^  and  to  denote  a 
general  in  armies  other  than  Roman.     In  ancient 
Rome  the  name  of  Praetors  was    assigned  to   the 
pair  of  highest  officials  chosen  yearly,  who  repre- 
sented the  kings  until  the  title  of  consules  came  in  at 
the  time  of  the  Decemvirs.     From  them   the  porta 
praetoria,  or   main    front    entrance  of  the    Roman 
camp,  took  its  name  "  Gate  of  the  General,"  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  porta  decumana,  or  postern  camp 
entrance  where  the  tenth  cohorts  (cohortes  demmae) 
had   their   quarters:    the  tent  of  the  general,  too, 
bears   their   name   {Praetorium),  as  does   also   his 
body-guard   (cohors  praetoria).     It  was  not  till    a 
later  date  that  the  title  of  praetor  was  transferred  to 
judicial  magistrates  [388  Urb.  Cond.].   The  qtmestor 
takes  his  name  from  quaerere,  "  to  inquire  into,"  be- 
cause under  the  kings  and  during  the  early  years  of 
the  Republic,  he  was  the  magistrate  charged  with 
the  investigation  of  criminal  offences,  or  President 
of  the  Court  of  penal  judicature,  and,  only  in  a  minor 
capacity,  Chancellor  of  the  public  exchequer.    In  the 
classic  period  he  was  exclusively  charged  with  the 
public  purse.    The   aedilis  was  the  officer  in  charge 
of  buildings  in  general  ("  aedilis  qui  aedes  sacras  et 
privatas  procuraret,"  Paul,  ap,  Fest.  13,  7).  He  took 
his  title  from  aedes,  which  in  the  singular  denotes  a 
hearth  [cf.  Gk.  arSw],  afterwards  the  cell  of  a  temple, 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE  213 

and  finally  the  sacred  building  itself:  but  in  the 
p  lural  it  signifies  a  house  with  reference  to  all  its 
rooms  [in  English  we  say  **to  search  the  house" 
— in  German,  from  the  more  frequent  use  of  flats, 
Vdurch  alle  Zimmer  suchen"].  The  tribuni  were 
originally  headsmen  of  Tribes :  afterwards  they  came 
t:o  be  the  magistrates  charged  with  protecting  the 
Plebs:  the  raised  seat  which  they  occupied  in  virtue 
of  their  high  office  was  called  tribunale  (i.e.,  sugges- 
lum):  whence  comes  our  *' Tribunal."  The  tribes 
in  question  were  the  three  original  ones  called 
Ramnes,  Tities  and  Luceres,  from  which  the  free 
burgesses  of  Rome  sprang.  But  after  the  new  dis- 
tribution ascribed  to  Servius  Tullius,  they  came  to 
mean  the  [local]  divisions  of  the  Roman  people  into 
four  city  and  twenty-six  (later  thirty-one)  rural 
tribes.  The  word  tribuere  means  properly  to  tax 
these  tribes:  and  the  word  tidbutttm  denoted  the 
tax  so  imposed,  as  Varro  expressly  tells  us  (Ling. 
Lat.  V,  8):  "tributum  dictum  a  tribubus  tributim 
exigebatur." 

The  auguresy  whose  business  it  was  to  mark  the 
flight  of  birds,  take  their  name  from  avis,  a  bird,  and 
from  the  root  gar  found  in  garrire,  to  chatter.  [The 
latter  statement  is  uncertain,  see  Walde  *'  Etym. 
Wbch."  p.  55],  just  as  the  auspices  take  their  names 
from  avis,  and  specere,  to  look.  The  name  haru- 
spices  is  connected  with  hariolus,  *'a  diviner,"  and 
with  hira,  hilla,  **  entrails."  Pontifices  are  said  to 
take  their  name  from  the  building  of  the  plank 
bridges  which  it  was  their  duty  to  maintain  in  good 
order  [but  see  Walde,  p.  480,  who  derives  the  word 


214  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

from  a  Sabine  form  punlzs  connected  with  guinpmre, 

*'  to  purify  "]. 

i:\iefetiales  are  said  to  take  their  name  from  the 
duty  laid  on  them  of  uttering  {profiteri)  the  solemn 
declarations  of  war  or  peace.  [This  word  is  more* 
probably  connected  with  facio  and  Sf^K,  see  Walde, 
p.  220;  the  meaning  being  "the  statute  maker."] 
The  Salii,  or  priests  of  Mars,  were  called  *'  leapers  '* 
because  the  worship  which  they  superintended  was 
associated  with  processions  of  jesting  leapers,  just- 
as  we  see  in  the  Luxemburg  town  of  Echternach  at 
the  present  day.  The  Quirites,  i,e.,  the  Romans  in 
their  quality  of  free  citizens,  take  their  title  from  the 
spear  with  which  they  were  armed;  curis  being 
the  Sabine  word  for  spear:  thus  the  name  means 
the  spear-men.  [More  probably  inhabitants  of  the 
Sabine  town  of  Cures:  Walde  assumes  that  even 
this  explanation  rests  on  popular  etymology,  though 
probably  the  same  root  is  seen  in  O/r-  and  Qtiir- 

alike.] 

The  advocatus,  or  *'  person  summoned  to  aid/' 
was  in  the  time  of  the  Republic  a  friend  conversant 
with  law,  on  whose  aid  a  suitor  could  rely,  and  who 
supported  his  case  by  his  personal  presence :  it  was 
not  till  Quintilian's  time  under  the  Empire  that  the 
word  received  the  sense  it  bears  to-day  of  counsel 
specially  employed  to  conduct  a  cause.  Candidahis 
was  the  epithet  applied  to  an  applicant  for  a  magis- 
terial post,  from  the  bright  white  (candida)  toga 
which  he  wore  when  he  went  round  to  solicit  votes: 
famulus  is  the  slave  regarded  as  a  member  of  the 
household  (O^c^n  fama,  a  house),  cf.  oiyf-k-vnt;  from  oTxof : 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


215 


persona,  connected  with  personare,  denotes  originally 
the  player's  mask  through  which  the  player  spoke : 
then  it  comes  to  denote  the  actor,  and,  finally,  "  a 
person  "  generally.    The  same  change  of  meaning 
is  observable  in  the  case  of  Trpoa-uwou  [this  is,  however, 
doubtful,  Walde  connects  persona  with  zona].    Coquus 
in  old  Latin  denotes  both  cook  and  baker,  because 
the  same  person  performed  both  functions.     Such 
at  least  is  the  testimony  of  Paulus  ap,  Festum,  58, 
14:  "Coquum  et  pistorem  apud  antiquos  eundem 
fuisse  accepimus":  pistor  (ixonx  pinsere,  to  crush)  is, 
strictly  speaking,  the  name  given  to  a  person  who 
crushes  or  bruises  corn  in  a  mortar,  and  then  applied 
to  one  who  grinds  it  small  in  a  handmill.     But  as 
the  grinder  served  as  baker  also,  the  word  received 
the   common   acceptation    of  baker.      There  were 
certainly  special  bakers  in  Rome  as  early  as  the  year 
171  B.C.,  for  Pliny  tells  us,  Nat.   Hist,  xviii,   107: 
**  Pistores    Romae    non   fuere   ad    Persicum  usque 
bellum  "  {i.e.,  till  the  war  against  Perseus  or  Perses 
of  Macedonia)  "  annos  .  .  .  gentium."    The  staple 
kind  of  corn  in  ancient  times  was  spelt  (Lat.  far) : 
the  meal  ground  from  this  was  called  farzna:  but 
since    300  B.C.   wheat,   which   was  probably  newly 
imported    from    Egypt   about   that   time,    took   its 
name  frumentum   from  frui\    the  word  originally 
signified  what  can  be  enjoyed  generally,  cf.  Fr.  fro- 
ment,  corn;   Ital.  formento:   or  again  it  was  called 
triticum,    properly  what    is   thrashed  out  {teritur) 
[cf.  Spanish  trogo :  granum  has  undergone  the  same 
change   of  meaning].    Phrygio   even   as    early   as 
Plautus  time  has  the  signification  of  an  embroiderer 


2i6  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

from  the  skill  which  the  Phrygians  always  showed 
in  this  art  [cf.  such  names  as  Cadurci  and  in  French 
rouennerie\, 

Hastati  was  the  name  originally  given  to  the 
combatants  in  a  legion  armed  with  the  hasta,  the 
spear;  principes  to  the  first  rank,  triarii  to  the 
third.  Now  the  principes  originally  fought  in  the 
front  line  of  the  Roman  legion :  at  a  later  period, 
however,  the  arrangements  were  changed,  and  the 
hastati  were  set  before  them  [and  were  armed  with 
the  pnlum  and  gladius\.  We  can  gather  what  kind 
of  wood  went  to  the  making  of  the  spear-shaft  from 
the  meaning  attached  to  the  words  fraxinus  and 
cornus,  which,  besides  their  ordinary  significations  of 
ash  and  cornel,  denote  the  javelins,  the  shafts  of  which 
were  made  of  these  kinds  of  wood.  We  can  con- 
fidently assert  that  besides  the  metal  helmet  which 
bore  the  name  of  cassis,  a  leathern  one  was  in  use, 
from  the  word  galea  =  yoi.Xny  weasel-skin  [cf.  xuytu]. 
Marius  introduced  the  custom  of  employing  as 
signals  in  the  battlefield  representations  of  wild 
beasts,  such  as  eagles,  wolves,  horses,  etc.,  attached 
to  poles,  so  that  the  word  signum  came  to  be  used 
generally,  as  we  should  say,  for  the  Roman  Flag. 
[The  aquila  was  the  signum  of  the  entire  legion: 
each  maniple  in  the  legion  had  its  own  special 
standard:  see  Plin.  Nat.  Hist,  x,  i6:  "  Romanis 
eam  legionibus  dicavit,  equi  aprique  singulos  or- 
dines  anteibant."]  The  ruthlessness  displayed  in 
ancient  warfare  is  well  illustrated  by  the  first  mean- 
ing oi populari  and  depopulari,  which  signify  "to 
dispeople  "  from  populus,  people  (cf.  kopfen,  to  be- 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


217 


' 


head,  from  kopf,  a  head,  and  schlemmeny  to  wallow 
in  luxury,  gormandize,  from  schlamm,  mud).  [This 
is  doubtful.  Walde  is  inclined  to  connect  these 
words  with  the  root  oi pello,  pepuliT^  It  is  also  to  be 
remarked  that  spoliare,  to  rob  or  despoil,  means 
properly  to  take  the  hide  off  an  animal,  and  hence  to 
strip  a  fallen  foe  of  his  armour.  By  tela,  from  tendo 
[in  the  sense  of  to  aim  at],  we  are  to  understand 
weapons  of  attack,  by  arma,  weapons  of  defence 
{arcere :  thus  arma  =  arcmd).  [These  two  words  prob- 
ably come  from  different  roots.  Arceo  =  Qf\i,  dpxiu: 
arma  from  the  root  ar  found  in  apaptVxw.] 

Praediumy  a  landed  property,  is  originally  con- 
nected \^it\i praeSy  a  surety:  it  is  thus  regarded  as  a 
possession  of  value  which  may  be  pledged  as  a 
caution :  hence  the  expression  of  Cicero  and  Livy, 
*'  praedibus  et  praediis  cavere  populo,"  "  to  guarantee 
the  safety  of  the  State  by  sureties  and  by  mort- 
gaging property."  [This  derivation  is  also  called  in 
question  by  Walde,  who  suggests  a  possible  etymo- 
logy in  prae(s)dium,  i,e,,  a  property  situated  [sedeo) 
near  a  town].  Hortus,  like  cohors  (etymologically 
connected  with  Goth,  gards,  a  house :  Gk.  x^V'^^O  ^^» 
strictly  speaking,  merely  a  court  or  a  fenced-in  en- 
closure. We  may  hence  infer  that  in  the  earliest 
times  the  sites  of  the  different  houses  were  sur- 
rounded by  an  enclosed  space  which  may  have  been 
planted  with  pot-herbs.  If  we  compare  culmus 
(German  Halm,  a  stalk)  with  culmen,  and  0^0(^0^, 
reed,  with  lpQ<pr\,  a  roof,  we  shall  gather  that  in  olden 
times  the  houses  of  the  Romans  were  thatched  with 
straw  or  rushes,  as  indeed,  according  to  Ovid,  Fast. 


2i8     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

VI,  261,  was  the  most  ancient  temple  of  Vesta: 
**  Quae  nunc  aere  vides,  stipula  tunc  tecta  videres  " 
[culniMs  and  culmen  are,  however,  probably  not  con- 
nected: the  latter  is  derived  from  a  root  gel,  to 
project,  seen  in  celsus,  see  Walde,  p.  134]. 

Even  in  Plautus*  time,  and  all  through  Latin 
literature,  the  upper  rooms,  or  garrets,  of  a  Roman 
house  were  called  cenaaila  or  dining-rooms.  Varro 
gives  the  following  explanation  of  this  custom: 
**  Since  it  became  customary  to  dine  upstairs  all  the 
upper  rooms  acquired  the  name  of  dining-rooms." 
We  can  see  in  Pompeii  at  the  present  day  such 
dining-rooms,  supported  by  columns:  they  were 
especially  adapted  for  fine  weather:  e,g.,  Insula  v,  2, 
and  vii,  3  (cf.  Mau,  Pompeii,  p.  256).  Maenianavj^s 
the  name  given  to  galleries,  balconies,  projecting 
windows,  etc,  after  the  time  of  C.  Maenius  (Consul 
338  B.C.),  who  was  the  first  to  erect  them  over  the 
shops  {tabernae)  in  order  to  gain  a  view  of  the 
games  in  the  Forum.  We  may  compare  the  French 
word  marisarde  from  the  French  architect  Mansard, 
1598-1666.    [Cf.  the  English  ''attic."] 

Templum  is  from  the  same  root  as  contemplari, 
and  it  denotes  in  the  first  instance  the  position  taken 
up  by  the  augurs  to  watch  the  heavens,  and  only 
secondarily  the  spot  chosen  on  earth  for  the  worship 
of  the  gods.  A  consecrated  building  was  called 
fanum,  and  hence  all  the  unconsecrated  ground 
which  lay  before  the  shrine  wdiSpro  fanum,  \.^.,  pro 
fano  situm.  The  compitaliay  or  festival  held  in  the 
crossways  in  honour  of  the  Lares,  takes  its  name 
from  compitum,  a  cross  road  \ubi  viae  competunt]. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


219 


The  Manes  are  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  properly 
"  the  Good  Beings."  The  opposite  meaning  is  found 
in  immanisy  not  good,  monstrous:  and  connected 
with  it  is  mane,  '*in  good  early  hours"  \de  bonne 
heure\  and  Manzus  =  the  person  born  in  a  good 
hour.  Immolare,  to  sacrifice,  denotes  the  sprinkling 
of  the  victim  with  "  mola  salsa,"  crushed  spelt  and 
salt.  Two  kinds  of  oracles  were  known  in  primitive 
times :  the  oracular  lottery  by  sortes,  slabs  of  wood 
which  were  thrown  or  laid  on  each  other  {severe)  and 
then  picked  up  {stirculos  tollere  in  Tacitus,  dvocipsTv,  to 
lift  up) :  then  the  word  sor^es  comes  to  mean  "  pro- 
phecy" generally;  and  also  the  forecasting  of  the 
future  by  means  of  omens  taken  from  birds,  whence 
omen  is  derived  {^ovismen,  cf.  oIwj/&?,  bird  and  omen : 
o1i(T^o(,i,  to  wait  for  a  sign,  to  hope:  from  q1<;,  a  bird) 
[omen  is  more  probably  derived  from  a  word  avis, 
meaning  a  presage,  cf.  Walde,  s.v.'].  Incantations, 
which  were  very  common,  were  carried  out  by  means 
of  formulae,  and  the  term  for  employing  them  was 
thus  incantare  and  cantare\  and  the  formula  itself 
was  called  Carmen  [cf.  the  English  charm]  =  ettwJ'ti. 
Venenu7n  {^venesnum,  from  Venus)  signified  origin- 
ally a  love-potion:  then  the  poison  from  which  it 
was  prepared,  and,  finally,  poison  in  general.  The 
Romans  in  the  act  of  worship  turned  to  the  south — 
in  this,  diflfering  from  the  Greek  custom :  and  thus 
they  held  the  left  to  be  the  fortunate  quarter,  and 
the  right  to  be  the  unlucky  one:  the  Sun,  Giver  of 
Li^ht  and  Life,  rises  to  the  left.  So  the  word  sinister 
came  to  mean  "  of  good  omen  in  general"  (Cic.  De 
Div.  2,  32,  ''ita  nobis — meliora").    Sinister  answers 


220     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 


to  Sanskr.  saniyaSy  the  winner  [rather  to  the  vairya 
of  the  Avesta,  see  Walde,  s.v.^  just  as  the  O.H.G. 
winistar  answers  to  wini,  friend.  The  word  talio  is 
characteristic  of  the  principles  of  law  in  olden  times : 
it  is  thus  defined  by  Isidore,  v,  27,  "similitudo  vin- 
dictae  ut  taliter  quis  patiatur  ut  fecit  sequatur" 
(cf.  Rein,  "  Kriminalrecht,"  pp.  '^^^  sqq,\  Strafrecht,  p. 
802).  Thus  the  principle  of  "  eye  for  eye  and  tooth 
for  tooth,"  or,  in  Greek,  liy  t*?  o>6aA|Uov  cxxoij/w,  avxfx- 
xoi/^a*  Trapao-;;^^!/  -rly  lauroiJ,  was  known  to  the  ancient 
Romans. 

Writing  was  originally  a  mere  process  of  scratch- 
ing marks  on  wooden  tablets:  hence  scribere  = 
(rxa/3i(pa(reat,  " to  Scratch  in""^  (compare  the  English 
word  **  write  "  with  German  ritzen),  [The  late  gram- 
marian Virgilius  Maro  actually  uses  the  word  carax- 
ar^  =  ;)^apa(ro-fii/,  for  to  write:  cf.  also  the  English 
use  of  "characters"  in  script.]  Liber,  ''book," 
originally  means  "  bark,"  and  codex  means  properly 
a  block  or  stump.  Satura  {lanx)  was  strictly  speak- 
ing a  pot-pourri  of  different  ingredients  [especially 
for  the  use  of  gladiators]:  hence  it  was  applied  to  a 
**  medley  "in  literature,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Satires 
of  Lucilius.  Ecule2is  =  equuleus,  or  **  little  horse," 
was  an  instument  of  torture:  a  horse  with  a  back 
full  of  sharp  points,  on  which  victims  had  to  sit : 
ficatum,  komJicMs,  "fig,"  denotes  the  goose's  liver 
artificially  fattened  with  figs:  hence  Ital.  fegato, 
and  Yr.foie,  ** liver":  calculare,  our  word  ''  to  calcu- 

*  Cf.  Geiger,  "  On  the  Development  of  the  human  race,"  chap, 
iv,  on  the  origin  of  writing.  The  northern  phrase  was  risia  runir, 
to  scratch  Runes. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


221 


late,"  comes  from  calculus,  a  small  stone,  such  as 
were  used  for  reckoning:  caro,  flesh,  is  identical  with 
the  Umbrian  word  karu  andtheOscan^(^r^m  =  partis 
[allied  to  xs/pw] :  it  signifies  strictly  a  portion  cut  off, 
and  must  have  applied  to  the  portion  assigned  to 
each  guest  at  meal  time.  Stipplicium,  punishment 
by  death,  is  connected  with  supplicare,  to  ask  on 
bended  knees,  because  the  convicted  criminals  re- 
ceived their  death  stroke  in  that  posture  [this  deri- 
vation is  disputed,  the  latter  half  of  the  word  being 
referred  to  the  same  stem  as  placare]:  funus,  a 
funeral  procession  or  ceremony,  is  connected  with 
Oo/j/r),  a  sacrificial  banquet  which  was  a  part  of  the 
ceremony  in  question  [this  derivation,  too,  is  dis- 
puted: Walde  connects  the  word  with  a  root 
which  appears  in  Gothic  as  gaunon,  to  utter  wait- 
ings, keening];  nuere  is  to  nod  the  head  in  token 
of  acquiescence:  hence  numen,  the  deity  who 
vouchsafes  assent:  the  reverse  is  abnuere,  to  toss 
the  head  back,  a  sign  among  the  Romans  of  dis- 
sent, which  we  signify  by  shaking  our  heads. 
Sublatus  is  used  in  the  sense  of  natus:  for  the 
newly  born  infant  was  laid  before  the  feet  of  the 
father  and  not  recognized  as  his  child  till  he  raised 
it  from  the  ground:  cordatus  means  not  merely 
"heartened'*  but  also  '* clever,"  as  in  the  line  of 
Ennius  quoted  by  Cicero,  De  Rep.  i,  3:  pensum,  a 
task  in  general,  is  strictly  speaking  the  quantity  of 
wool  "  weighed  out "  to  the  female  slaves  to  spin 
[and  pendo  itself  is  properly  to  hang  on  to  a 
weight]. 

The  three  periods  in  the  month  from  which  the 


222     LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER 

Romans,  reckoning  backwards,  dated,  are  the  Cal- 
endae,  Nonae,  and  Idus,    Calendae  takes  its  name 
from  calo,  to  call  out  [cf.  our  word  '^to  hail"],  be- 
cause according  to  Varro,  Ling.  Lat.  vi,  27/'  primi  dies 
nominati  Calendae  quod  his  diebus  calantur  qum- 
tanae  an  septimanae  sint  futurae."    From  the  same 
stem  we  have  calator  and  calebra,  the  place  for  call- 
ing out  public  announcements  on  the  Roman  Capitol, 
where  the  Pontifex  minor  publicly  announced  the 
various  days  in  the  month  on  which  festivals  were  cele- 
brated or  the  law-courts  opened :  also  nomenclator, 
the  slave  whose  business  it  was  to  prompt  his  master 
by  telling  him  the  names  of  the  acquaintances  whom 
he  met  in  the  street.    The  name  Nonae,  or  ninth, 
was  applied  to  the  fifth  or  to  the  seventh  day  of  the 
month,  because  it  was  the  ninth  day  before  the  Ides. 
The  Idus  signified  the  thirteenth  or  fifteenth  day  of 
the  month,  from  a  word  meaning  "  to  divide,"  which 
Macrobius,  Saturn,  i,  15,  17,  assures  us  existed  in 
Etruscan  [Varro,  Ling.  Lat.  vi,  28,  makes  the  same 
assertion:  but  it  is  rejected  by  Walde,  who  connects 
it  with  isce  Ir.  =  *eid—skiom  =  mensis  lunaris].    The 
Ides  divided  the  month  into  two  halves.    Nundinum 
^novem  dies  is  a  space  of  eight  days  [reckoning  in- 
clusively], hence  trinundinmn,  a  space  of  twenty- 
four  days,  and  nundinae,  the  closing  day  of  the  period 
which  answered  to  our  week,  the  market  day,  on 
which  the  peasants  brought  their  produce  to  town. 
Bimus,  two  years  old,  and  trimiis,  three  years  old, 
are  contracted  from  bitrimus  and  Iritrimus :  the  latter 
portion  of  these  two  words  is  connected  with  htems, 
and  points  to  a  time  when  reckoning  by  winters  was 


OF  THE  ROMAN  PEOPLE 


223 


common  [cf.  in  some  English  dialects  twinter  =  ^. 
beast  two  years  old]. 

In  Italy  the  Decemvirs,  following  no  doubt  the 
example  of  the  Greeks,  attached  a  definite  value  to 
copper,  and  thus  created  coin.    The  as,  assis,  very 
possibly  comes  from  the  same  root  as  asser,  a  rod  or 
stave  (cf.  voinis  as  against  vomer),  so  that  the  Roman 
as  may  be  paralleled  by  the  Greek  o|3oAo?  =  h^iXoq,  a 
spit  [Walde   takes   the   derivation  to  be  from  an 
Umbrian  root,  ar-  =  Lat.  ad-,  denoting  to  settle  or 
arrange,  so  that  as,  assis  =  ad-tt,  "statutory  unity"]. 
The  eeneral  name  for  a  coin  was  7zti7mmis,  a  word 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  kj/xo^,  with  the  signification 
of  "  a  statute,"  or  statutory  uniform  standard  of  coin- 
age.    In  later  times  num^nus  was  confined  to  the 
meaninor  of  sestertius:  and   since   Ovid's   time  the 
word  moneta  was  employed  from  Juno  Moneta  [con- 
nected with  moned] :  for  it  was  in  her  temple  that 
after  the  introduction  of  silver  coinage  (269-268  B.C.) 
a  buildinof  was  erected  for  a  mint.    The  word  ses- 
tertius  =  semis — tertius  as  [i-e,,  two  are  understood  and 
the  third  is  an  as  like  the  German  expression  dritte- 
lialb  =  t\NO  and  a  half].    Denarius  is  from  deni=  ten 
as:  solidus  (our  "  solid  ")  denotes  in  the  first  instance 
a  gold  coin  of  the  value  of  twenty-five  Denarii,  which 
at  a  later  date  decreased  in  value:  in  modern  times  it 
denotes  a  copper  coin  =  Fr.  sou,  and  Ital.  soldo.    As 
in  ancient  times  unminted  copper  was  in  use  {aes  rude, 
raudus),  which  was  converted  into  copper  pieces  or 
bars,  the  use  of  scales  was  needed :  and  hence  we  find 
mpendo  the  double  meaning  of  "  to  weigh  "  and  "  to 
pay,"  and  the  old  formula  to  express  a  legal  pur- 


224  LANGUAGE  AND  CHARACTER,  ETC. 

chase,  "per  aes  at  libram."    For  the  bar-form  which 

we  noticed  when  speaking  of  the  as  the  expression 

stipendium  {stipipendium)  is  a  good  parallel.    It  is 

derived  from  stips,  stipis,  a  stem  or  trunk.    [The 

original  meaning  of  slips  is  uncertain :  it  may  mean 

an  ear  of  corn,   and  thus  a  payment  in  corn;  cf. 

Walde,  p.  596.]    A  passus  (from  pandere,  to  stretch 

out)  is  the  span  of  the  arms  when  stretched  out 

horizontally,  from  the  end  of  one  set  of  fingers  to 

the  other:  thus  it  is  neither  a  foot  nor  a  step,  but  a 

double  step  =  4|  of  a  German  foot :  for  quinque  millia 

passtmm  =  24,000  feet  or  a  German  mile.   \Passus 

does  really  signify  a  man's  step,  i.e.,  two  and  a  half 

English  feet;   cf    Pliny,  ii,  23:  "Stadium  centum 

viginti  quinque  nostros  efficit  passus,  hoc  est  pedes 

sexcentos  viginti  quinque."    There  were  two  kinds 

of  passus :  the  passus  minor,  and  the  passus  mator 

which  consisted  of  two  of  the  passus  minores.'] 


NOTES 


(i)  §  I.  Cf.  "  Archiv  fur  Lexicographic,"  vii,  333  sqg.\ 
and  Isidore  (Orig.  ix,  2,  105):  "  Romanos  graves,  Graecos 
leves";  Livy,  xxx,  7,  6:  "  Romana  in  adversis  rebus  con- 
stantia  " :  assiduus  is  from  sedere^  and  perhaps  sedulus  [this 
word  is  more  probably  derived  from  se  dolo  =  sine  dolo\  cf. 
Walde,  s.v\  Livy,  xxii,  14,  i,  praises  the  "  insita  Romanis 
industria":  and  Varro's  dictum  (i,  2,  2)  tallies  with  this 
view :  "  Romanus  sedendo  vincit "  [cf  Cicero,  "Pro  Flacco,* 
for  the  Roman  view  of  the  Greek  character]. 

[Cf  Dr.  Voigt  in  Iwan  Mliller's  "  Handbuch,"  iv,  2, 
pp.  288  sqq.  "  The  Roman  is  distinguished  by  a  deep 
sense  of  religion,  and  his  religion  afforded  him  the  means 
of  satisfying  its  claims,  while  the  believer  experienced  the 
need  of  ensuring  the  aid  of  the  gods  in  every  circumstance 
of  life,  by  offerings,  prayers,  and  invocations.  He  manifests 
a  certain  lack  of  imagination  which  imparts  to  his  religious 
observances  an  earnest  and  sober  character.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Roman  is  distinguished  by  intellectual  aptitude 
and  a  good  understanding,  by  presence  of  mind,  and  by  an 
inclination  to  indulge  in  ready  wit  and  racy  banter:  by 
self-control,  self-confidence,  and  courage,  and  likewise  by 
an  inflexible  will:  he  possesses  a  strong  and  even  exag- 
gerated love  and  pride  in  his  country  which  takes  the  form 
sometimes  of  undue  self-esteem,  sometimes  of  enlightened 
patriotism.  Add  to  this  strength,  activity,  and  perseverance, 
straightforwardness  and  love  of  truth,  pride  in  the  honour 
of  his  name;  add  that  he  was  conscientious  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  and  inexorable  in  his  claim  that  his  neighbour 
should  requite  him  in  kind.  For  the  rest  the  Roman  was 
industrious  and  a  careful  householder,  simple,  temperate, 

Q 


226  NOTES 

and  modest:  he  cultivated  gravitas,  or  decorum  in  his  own 

outward  appearance  and  actions  he  ^^'^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 
and  took  care  that  his  own  authority  should  be  respected. 
he  was  sensitive  to  the  claims  of  friendship,  and  was  him- 
self steadfast  in  his  friendships."  Cf.  A.  Novent, "  De  Mon- 
bus  Romanis."  Leod,  1829;  C.  L.  Roth  "Z"/ ^heone  und 
inneren  Geschichte  der  romischen  Satire,"  Stuttgart,  1848, 
§  6-10;  Bernhardy,  Rom.  Litt.,  §  i,  4;  Teuffel,  Rom.  Litt, 

S  I ;  Voigt,  xii ;  Taf.,  §  5.]  •       x>  \ 

(2)  5  2.  The  reading  argute  loqui  is  not  certain ;  roly- 
bius,  ii,  17,  10,  transcribing  Cato,  says:  Ta  ^.^e^.««  ««'  ^a 

V  '      •     ~      rf  aUo  VV   Soltau    "Prolegomena  zu 

XOLTO.  yiufiyiav  adKzn.     L.I.  aiso   vv .  ouiidu,      •■  •■       i, 

einer  romischen  Chronologic,"  p.  7°- 

(■I)  8  V  The  following  works  may  be  consulted  on  the 
relations  between  the  language  of  a  nation  and  its  char- 
acter: Wedewer,  "  tjber  die  Wichtigkeit  und  Bedeutung 
der  Sprache  fur  das  tiefere  Verstandniss  des  Volkschar- 
acters;-  Frankfurt  aM.,  1859;  Fr.  Stehlich,  "  Die  Sprache 
in    ihrer   Beziehung    zum    National -character,     Casseler 
Programm,  i88i ;  J.  Stocklein,  "  Beobachtungen  uber  den 
Zusammenhang   zwischen    Sprache  und  Volkscharacter 
Blatter  fur  das  Bayr.  Gymnasialschulwesen,  xxx,  335-357. 
A  Lefevre,  "  Les  races  et  les  langues,"  Paris,  1893;  J.  Le- 
coultre,  "  Du  g6nie  de  la  langue  frangaise  ^o">f j;^  Y^Hn 
de  la  langue  latine,"  Neuchatel,  1 894 ;  Lindsay,    The  Latin 
Language."  Cambridge,  ,895;  and  Weise's  '•  Abhandlung 
uber  deutsche  Sprache  und  Deutsche  Volksartm  den  Sam- 
melwerke  von  Hans  Meyer,  Deutsches  Volkstum,    2  Aufl 
Leipzig  pp.  213-260.    [Cf  also  "General  Principles  of  the 
St"uctu;e'  of  Language,"  by  James  Byrne.  M.A..  London, 

Triibner,  1885.]  •         o    • 

(A)  %  V  Cicero's  assertion,  De  Nat  Deorum,  1,  4,  ^  is 
mere  self-complacency  and  exaggerated  patriotism.  ';Qao 
in  genere  tantum  profecisse  videmur,  ut  a  Graecis  ne 
verborum  quidem  copia  vinceremur";  and  agam  where  he 
CDeFin  i  3  10)  says:  "  Saepe  discerni  Latmam  Imguam 
non  modo'  non  inopem,  ut  vulgo  putarent,  sed  locupletiorem 
etiam  esse  quam  Graecam." 


NOTES 


227 


(5)  §  3-  See  Weise's  treatise  on  the  Greek  loan-words  in 
Latin  (Leipzig,  1882,  and  G.  A.  Saalfeld,  "  Thesaurus  Italo- 
graecus,"  Vienna,  1884). 

(6)  §  3.  Other  such  words  are:  ypafjL/xa,  a  letter;  raAavrov, 
a  talent;  juo^oi/,  a  mulberry;  9r?^Tavo;,  a  plane  tree;  Kspdriovy 
fenugreek ;  Ato;  ^(zxavo^,  edible  chestnut ;  /xsyag  arpouOog,  ostrich ; 
^ov^ahoq,  an  antelope;  pivoxspccg,  rhinoceros;  wiiyapyog,  a  Libyan 
antelope  [or  the  great  sea  eagle]  ;  KpoKo^sixogy  crocodile; 
KepoTTidmogy  ape;  jtaTu^xsTrujVy  [African]  buffalo;  upoXoyioVy  sun- 
dial ;  TpiYipvg,  three-decker,  etc. 

(7)  §  4.  Cf  Leo  Tob,  "  De  grammaticis  vocabulis  apud 
Latinos,"  Paris,  1893;  L.  Jeep,  "Zur  Geschichte  der  Lehre 
von  den  Redeteilen  bei  den  lateinischen  Grammatikern," 
Leipzig,  1893  5  B-  Linderbauer,  "  De  Verborum  mutuatorum 
et  peregrinorum  apud  Ciceronem  usu  et  compensatione." 
Pars  posterior.   Programm  von  Metten  bei  Straubing,  1893. 

(8)  §  5.  It  is  admitted,  even  by  Hehn,  the  great  admirer 
of  the  Romance  languages,  that  they  are  deficient  in  the 
power  of  forming  compounds  (Italien  3  Aufl.,  p.  201). 
For  this  question  as  applied  to  Latin,  see  P.  Udolph,  "  De 
Latinae  linguae  vocabulis  compositis,"  Breslauer  Disserta- 
tion, 1865;  G.  V.  Muyden,  "  De  Vocabulorum  in  lingua 
Latina  compositione,"  Halle,  1858;  F.  Seitz, "  De  adjectivis 
Latinorum  poetarum  compositis,"  Bonner  Dissertation, 
1878;  F.  Stolz,  "Die  lateinische  Nominal-composition," 
1877.  [For  compounds  in  French,  see  Darmesteter,  His. 
Fr.  Gr.,  §  272  sqq^ 

(9)  §  7-  "  ^^  ^^y  circumstance  has  made  a  particularly 
deep  impression  on  the  spirit  of  the  people,  this  spirit  is 
tempted  to  forge  new  expressions  to  meet  the  occasion: 
and  to  disclose  ever  new  features  in  that  spirit  with  a 
manifold  redundancy  of  words.  Every  characteristic  attri- 
bute which  struck  the  fancy  of  a  new  observer  yielded  a 
new  name  "  (O.  Kares,  "  Jahrbucher  fur  Phil,"  1884,  ii,  595). 
[See  H.  Heine's  witty  application  of  this  thought:  "  Reise 
von  Munchen  nach  Genua,  kap.  iv,  ad  init."  (Hamburg, 
Hoffman,  1871),  and  Whitney,  "Language  and  the  Study 
of  Language,"  p.  123,  Triibner  and  Co.,  1870.] 


228 


NOTES 


NOTES 


229 


III 


(oa)  5  8  [So  the  name  Palatium  and  Mons  Palatinus 
seem  to  answer  to  the  deities  of  the  domestic  hearth,  Pales 

and  Palatua.]  .,...,        -o 

(10)  iJ  9.  W.  Cosack,  "Bild  und  Gleichniss  m  ihrer  Be- 
deutung  fur  Lessing's  Stil,"  Danziger  Progr.,  1869,  and 
Immisch,  "  Jahrbucher  fur  Philol,"  1887,  pp.  393  sqq^ 

(lO  S  9.    Reisig   remarks   in   his   "  Vorlesungen    uber 
lateinische   Sprachwissenschaft,"    §    I73:   "We   can   com- 
monly learn  certain  characteristic  traits  of  a  nation  by  the 
Figures  of  speech  which  it  employs,  particularly  in  the 
case  of  certain  special  objects  of  its  taste  " ;  and  Jak.  Bauer 
remarks  in  the  Ansbacher  Programm  of  1 889,  p.  33 :      ^^^ 
peculiarities  of  a  nation  are  in  no  way  more  clearly  mir- 
rored than  in  its  metaphors."   See  Brinkmann,  "  Die  Meta- 
phern,  Studien  uber  den  Geist  der  modernen  Sprachen, 
Bonn   1878;  R.  Thomas,  "  Zur  historischen  Entwickelung 
der   Metapher   im   Griechischen,"    Erlanger   Disputation, 
1891 ;  H.  Bliimmer,  "  Studien  zur  Geschichte  der  Metapher 
im  Griechischen,"  Leipzig,  1891;   Burmester,  "Uber  den 
Einfluss  der  Metapher  auf  die  Entwickelung  der  Sprache, 
Barmer  Programm,   1863;   A.  Darmesteter,  "La  vie  des 
mots,"  Paris,  1887,  pp.  96  sqq. 

(12)  §  10.  Cf.the  Sabine  word  curis-.  Lange  and  Momm- 
sen,  Rom.  Geschich.  7  Aufl.  i,  69. 

(13)  §  10.  The  great  influence  exercised  by  the  ideas  ol 
the  Romans  on  their  national  proverbs  is  brought  out  by 
Wolfflin,   "  Sitzungsberichte  der   Munchener   Akademie, 
1888  pp.  197  sqq.    It  is  also  worth  noticing  that  the  phrase- 
ology connected  with  bellum  has  had  a  large  development; 
e.g.,  bellum  indicere,  movere,concitare,conflare,parare,ducere, 
trahere,  componere,  conficere,  finire,  etc.    Again,  some  old 
Roman  names  were  taken  immediately  from  words  con- 
nected  with   war,   as  Duilius^Duellitis,   from   duellum  = 
bellum,  Metellus  =  viercenarius,  paid  soldier  (after  Festus, 
P  147)  [from  metere:  Duellius  and  Bellius  are  referred  by 
Walde  rather  to  bellus  =  bonus,    Pliny  the  Younger  (vi,  12) 
refers  to  a  law  court  as  his  arena]. 

(14)  I  10.  Cf.  Ribbeck,  "  Geschichte  der  romischen  Dich- 


tung,"  i^   123,   and  Kampmann,  "Res  Militares  Plauti," 
Breslau,  1839. 

(15)  §  II.  References  to  Law  and  matters  of  Law  are 
very  common  among  the  Romans.  Cf  H.  Demelius, 
"  Plautinische  Studien,"  Zeitschrift  flir  Rechtsgeschichte, 
i  (1862),  351-372;  ii,  177-238;  J.  Mispoulet,  "Revue  de 
Philol."  xii,  I  sqq.  Jubere  is  properly  "  to  hold  as  right " 
(Jus  Qfivai)  [the  connection  of  iubeo  and  ius  is  doubtful, 
V.  Walde  s.v.],  arbitrari  "  to  appoint  an  umpire,"  etc. 

(16)  §  13.  The  Germans  [and  English]  seem  to  speak 
more  sympathetically  than  the  Latins,  as  may  be  seen  in 
such  expressions  as  "  our  poet,"  "  our  author,"  "  our  volume," 
etc.,  as  compared  with  the  more  colourless  hie  poeta,  hie 
scriptor,  hie  liber, 

(17)  §  14.  It  is  improbable  that  the  word  ludus^Lydius, 
implying  an  influence  exercised  by  Lydia  on  Etruria 
[Walde  connects  it  with  a  root  from  which  comes  Anglo- 
Saxon  gleo,  our  "  glee  "]. 

(18)  §  14.  These  two  words  are  referred  by  others  to  ajo, 
I  say,  agjo  \agio\. 

(19)  §  17.  More  details  are  given  in  Lohmeyer's  "  Zeitschr. 
des  allgemein.  deutsch.  Sprachvereins,"  iv,  i,  5  sqq.,  and  in 
W.  Wackernagel's  "  Schweitzerisches  Museum,"  i,  i,  69- 
119. 

(20)  §  17.  Fick,  "Die  griechischen  Personennamen," 
Gottingen,  1874,  cites  about  300  names  of  both  classes. 

(21)  §  19.  Cf.  the  excellent  collection  of  pertinent  pro- 
verbs by  Otto,  "  Archiv  fur  Lexicographic,"  iii,  355  sqq,, 
and  W.  V.  Wyss,  "  Die  Sprichworter  bei  den  romischen 
Komikern,"  Zurich,  1889  bes.  pp.  12  and  47,  and  for  the 
Greek  proverbs,  the  Programme  of  Martin,  Plauen,  1889. 

(22)  §  20.  Also  in  the  form  "audentes  fortuna  iuvat" 
(Verg.  Aen.  x,  284),  or  the  same  sentiment  abbreviated, 
"sed  fortes  fortuna"  (Cic.  De  Fin.  iii,  4,  16);  or  "fortibus 
est  fortuna  viris  data"  (Enn.);  "Fortuna  fortes  metuit, 
ignavos  premit"  (Senec);  "audendum  est,  fortes  adjuvat 
ipse  deus"  (Ovid);  "dimidium  facti  qui  coepit  habet; 
sapere   aude"   (Hon);    "omnia   deficiant,   animus   tamen 


2  30 


NOTES 


NOTES 


231 


I 
III 


omnia  vincit;  ille  etiam  vires  corpus  habere  facit"  (Ovid); 
or  in  various  other  forms.  Cf.  Buchmann,  "  Geflugelte 
worte,"  21  Aufl.,  pp.  3^3  m-  [Cic  De  Off.  i,  23,  "  Fortis 
animi  est  non  perturbari  in  adversis  "]. 

(23)  §  23.  Cf.  too  Tac.  Ann.  iii,  12,  "  id  solum  Germanico 
super  leges  praestiterimus,"  besides  the  frequent  use  of 
videro.    Also   the   Conjunctive  Perfect,   which   occurs   so 
often  in  sentences  of  commanding   and  willing,  and   m 
doubting  questions  and  in  the  Potential  seems  always  to 
imply  that  the  speaker  is  under  a  strong  emotion  and  full 
of  decision,  and  especially  that  he  lays  stress  on  the  speedy 
termination  of  the  action   spoken   of  (cf.   H.  C.  Elmer, 
"  Studies  in  Latin  Moods  and  Tenses,"  Ithaca,  N.  York, 
1898  and  Weise's  review  of  this  treatise  in  the  "Berliner 
Philol.  Wochenschrift,"  1898,  No.  38,  Sp.  1173  m^    We 
should   mention   in   this   place  the  rhetorical  Pluperfect 
employed  more  especially  by  the  historians,  instead  of  the 
Perfect,  when  they  are  intent  on  calling  attention  to  what 
is  to  follow,  and  pronounce  their  judgment  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  following  action.   (Cf  on  this  point  H.  Blase, 
"  Gesch.  des  Plusquamperf.  im  Latein,"  Giessen,  1894,  pp.  38 
sqq.\  also  Schmalz'  note  on  Catil.   18,6;  Madvig,  §  338; 
Kuhner,  "  Ausfuhrliche  Gramm.,"  §  35,  3-) 

(24)  §   24.    Cmn  concessive  or  adversative  is  used  by 
Plautus  with  the  Indicative  only:  it  is  found  in  Terence 
sometimes  with  the  Indicative,  sometimes  with  the  Sub- 
junctive:   quippe  is,  even    in   Sallust,  always   constructed 
with  the  Indicative.  A.  Dittmar  is  hardly  right  in  attempt- 
ing to  prove,  as  he  does  in  his  "  Studien  zur  lat.  Modus- 
lehre,"  that   the   Conjunctive,  wherever   occurring,  has  a 
polemic  character,  and  is  the  expression  of  some  mental 
excitement;   and  that   its  use  is  thus   explicable  as  ex- 
pressive  of  doubt,  irritation  at  contradiction,  or  some  other 
emotion  (cf  Weise's  review  of  this  treatise  in  the  "  Literar- 
isches  Centralblatt,"  1897,  Sp.  1464^^^- •  and  in  the  "Berlmer 
Philol.  Wochenschrift,"  1897,  Sp.  iSQi)-    W.  G.  Hale  views 
the  matter  from  another  standpoint  in  his  treatise,  "  The 
Cum  constructions,"  Ithaca,  N.  York,  1887  and  1889;  his 


opinion  is  that  the  Conjunctive  in  ^ww-sentences  is  just  as 
little  conditioned  by  causal  or  adversative  considerations  as 
by  the  fact  that  the  relation  of  subordination  or  the  sub- 
jective nature  of  the  speaker's  point  of  view  exerts  its 
influence.  He  expresses  himself  thus:  "The  conjunctive 
rw;«-sentence  expresses  the  situation  actually  in  being  at 
the  time  of  the  occurrence  of  the  main  action.  The  in- 
dicative <;//;;/-sentence  expresses  the  time  or  date  at  which 
the  main  action  occurs."  The  former,  then,  answers  the 
question:  ''How  stood  matters  when  the  main  action 
occurred?"  The  latter  answers  the  question:  "  What  was 
the  date  of  the  main  action?  " 

The  following  treatises  on  this  question  are  also  worthy 
of  attention:  E.  Hoffmann,  "Die  Konstruktion  der  latein- 
ischen  Zeitpartikeln,"  Wien,  1873,  and  "Das  Modus- 
gesetz  im  lateinischen  Zeitsatz,"  Wien,  1 891,  which  assume 
that  the  use  of  the  two  moods  respectively  in  Latin  time- 
sentences  depends  on  the  difference  between  absolute  and 
relative  time:  M.  Wetzel,  "Das  Recht  in  dem  Streite 
zwischen  Hale  und  E.  Hoffmann  uber  die  tempora  und 
Modi  in  latein.  Temporal  satzen,"  Paderborn,  1892; 
Stegmann,  "Jahrb.  f.  Philol.,"  Bd.  142,  pp.  454-474; 
Heynacher,  "  Wochenschrift  f.  klass.  Philologie,"  1890, 
pp.  739  sqq.,  and  Lubbert,  "  Die  Syntax  von  quoin  und  die 
Entdeckung  der  relativen   Tempora  im  Latein,"  Breslau, 

1870. 

(25)  §  29.  The  same  holds  good  of  other  iterative  clauses 

in  Livy  with  quantum,  quod,  utcmnque,  etc.  Cf.  O.  Riemann, 
"  Etude  sur  la  langue  et  la  grammaire  de  Tite-Live," 
2  Aufl.,  Paris,  188S,  pp.  294  .f^^.  .. 

(26)  §  29.  H.  Ziemer  says  in  his  treatise,  "  Uber  das 
psychologische  Moment  in  der  Bildung  syntactischer 
Sprachformen,"  Programm  von  Colberg,  1879,  p.  8:  "There 
can  be  no  dispute  that  the  Latin  language  during  its 
course  of  eight  hundred  years,  if  we  may  judge  from  its 
documentary  evidence,  has  undergone  fewer  changes  than 
other  tongues,  such  as  the  German  [and  the  English],  in  a 
like  space  of  time."    We  must  also  agree  with  G.  Curtius, 


232 


NOTES 


NOTES 


233 


who  lays  stress  on  the  larger  capacity  of  Greek  for  ex- 
pression generally,  and  especially  for  the  admirable  subtlety 
displayed  in  the  combination  of  its  sentences.  In  Greek  we 
findamorecopious  dialectic  literature  than  in  Latin  ;thequick 
and  subtle  mind  of  the  Greek  developed  a  vast  redundancy 
of  forms,  and  we  find  prevailing  over  the  entire  language 
undeniable  traces  of  the  activity  of  the  "  Psychological 
moment."  The  Latin  language,  on  the  other  hand,  mani- 
fests in  its  development,  as  disclosed  to  us,  greater  con- 
sistency, greater  simplicity,  and  much  less  freedom;  in 
its  syntactic  forms  it  follows  more  closely  the  Laws   of 

Logic. 

(27)  §  30.  Lubbock  ("Origin  of  Civilization,"  p.  403) 
declares  that  in  the  Brazilian  dialect  Tupi,  out  of  a 
thousand  words  sixty-six  are  reduplicated;  among  the 
Hottentots,  seventy-five;  in  the  Tonga  dialect  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six,  in  the  Maori  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine.  Cf.  also  Deecke,  "  De  reduplicato  Latinae  linguae 
praeterito,"  p.  19,  and  C.  Jacoby,  "  Die  reduplication  im 
Lateinischen,"  Danziger  Programm,  1878.  [On  reduplica- 
tion in  the  Polynesian  dialects,  see  Whitney,  "  Language 
and  the  Study  of  Language,"  p.  338:  the  languages  of  the 
Australian  aborigines  are  also  largely  characterized  by 
reduplication.  The  repetition  of  the  root,  either  complete,  or 
by  "  reduplication,"  i.e.,  the  repetition  of  its  initial  part,  was 
made  to  indicate  symbolically  the  completion  of  the  action 
signified  by  the  root,  and  furnished  another  tense,  a  perfect: 
e.g.,  from  the  root  da  =  give,  Sanskrit  ddddu,  Greek  ^f^ojxa, 
Latin  dedi,  from  dha,  put,  make,  Greek  ii^zina,  O.H.G. 
teta,  A.S.  dide,  our  did.  Whitney,  p.  267  ;  see  also  pp.  338 
sqq.  for  reduplication  in  the  Polynesian  languages.] 

(28)  §  30.  E.g.,  "  Super  unus  eram,"  Verg.  Aen.  ii,  567  ; 
"  inque  cruentatus,"  Ovid,  Met.  xii,  492  ;  "  Hac  Troiana 
tenus,"  Aen.  vi,  62  ;  "  quae  me  cumque  vocant,"  Aen.  i,  60. 
["  Inque  salutatam  linquo,"  Aen.  v,  28,  and  Ennius,  "  Cere— 
comminuit— brum ! "]  Lucret.  "inque  pediri,"  "conque 
globata,"  "ordia  prima  ";  Cicero, Sest.  68  :  "quod  indicium 
cumque  subierat";  Ad  Attic,  v,  18:  "  faciam  tamen  satis." 


Seyfifert-Muller  on  Laelius,  p.  49;  Schmalz,  "  Jahrbucher 
f.  klass.  PhiloL,"  1892,  ii,  364;  M.  Bonnet,  "Le  Latin  de 
Gr^goire  de  Tours,"  p.  480. 

(29)  §  32.  The  Greek  is  extremely  sensitive  as  to  the 
terminations  of  his  words,  in  which  he  allows  hardly  any 
double  letters,  except  such  as  those  of  which  ^,  p  and  v 
are  one  factor  [such  words  as  Tyrins  are  now  held  to  be 
pre-Hellenic]:  in  the  beginnings  of  his  words,  however,  he 
admits  a  comprehensive  number  of  consonantal  collocations: 
the  Roman,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  a  greater  sensitive- 
ness as  to  the  beginnings  of  his  words,  in  which  he  avoids 
such  combinations  as  cm,  dm,  tm,  sm :  en,  dn,pn,  inn  :  et,pt: 
bd,  gd:  ps,  X,  tl,  scl  {stl),  all  of  which  come  naturally  to  the 
Greek.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  endings  of  his  words  the 
Roman  admits  of  a  series  not  merely  of  simple  consonants, 
but  also  of  consonantal  combinations,  e.g.,  nt,  rt,  st.  It:  rs, 
ms,  ns:  nc.  It  seems  as  if  the  Roman  were  bent  on  verify- 
ing in  his  treatment  of  the  vowels  what  Hanno  says  in 
Livy  (Book  xxi,  10,  7)  about  the  national  character  of  his 
enemies:  "Quo  lenius  agunt,  segnius  incipiunt,  eo,  cum 
coeperint,  vereor  ne  perseverantius  saeviant."  Cf.  too 
Benary,  "  Kuhn's  Zeitschrift  f.  vergleich.  Sprachwissensch.," 
i,  51  sqq.,  and  R.  Kretschmer,  loc.  cit.,  xxxi,  412  sqq, 
Latin  writers,  again,  seem  not  to  feel  the  same  objection  to 
the  hiatus  which  characterizes  Greek  writers. 

(30)  §  32.  Alliteration  played  a  great  part  in  the  tech- 
nique of  old  Latin  verse.  Cf.  S.  Preuss,  "  De  Bimembris 
Dissoluti  apud  Scriptores  Romanos  Usu  Solemni,"  Eden- 
koben,  1881 ;  and  W.  Ebrard,  "  Die  Alliteration  in  der  lat. 
Sprache,"  Bayreuth,  1882.  This  also  holds  true  of  the  early 
stage  of  the  German  language:  cf.  Heine,  "  Die  Alliteration 
im  Munde  des  deutschen  Volks,"  Anklam,  1882  [and  was 
common  in  Early  English,  where  it  was  an  essential  part  of 
the  rhythm.  Cf.  Morris  and  Skeat's  "  Specimens  of  Early 
English,"  pp.  151  sqq.  The  Deluge  and  the  vision  of 
William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman.] 

(31)  §  34.  Cf.  W.  Stehlich,  "Die  Sprache  in  ihrem 
Verhaltnis  zur  Geschichte,"   Leipzig,    1892;   and  Weise's 


234 


NOTES 


treatise  on  the  German  mother  tongue.  5  Aufl.,  Leipzig, 
1904,  pp.  87-104.  J.  Grimm,  "  Kleine  Schriften,"  1,  290, 
says:  "  Our  language  is  at  the  same  time  our  history,"  and 
W.  V.  Humboldt,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Kawi  language, 
says:  "Language  is  intimately  bound  up  with  the  develop- 
ment of  mankind :  it  accompanies  it  at  every  step  of  its 
progress  as  if  its  retrogression,  and  the  state  of  civilization 
of  those   who   speak  it,  is  recognizable  by  its  aid     [of. 

Whitney,  pp.  383  ^^^-l  _ 

(32)  §  40.  Cf  too  O.  Altenburg's  essay  "  De  sermone 
pedestri  Italorum  vetustissimo,"  Leipzig,  1898:  "In  the 
records  of  old  Italian  popular  language,  such  as  ancient 
specimens  of  law,  the  writings  of  Cato,  the  municipal  laws 
of  Bantia,  the  Eugubine  tables,  we  meet  with  the  same 
absence  of  form  and  grace  in  style.  The  thought  presses 
ever  to  the  front:  the  expression  is  of  secondary  import- 
ance. This  is  the  peculiar  mark  of  the  style  of  the  old 
Latin  prayers,  so  grand  in  their  very  simplicity,  of  the 
Laws,  and  of  Cato's  precepts  with  their  somewhat  pedantic 

tone  and  character." 

(33)  §  40.  "  M.  Catonis  quae  exstant,"  ed.  Jordan,  p.  77' 
"  Et  hoc  puta  vatem  dixisse,  quandoque  ista  gens  suas 
litteras  dabit,  omnia  corrumpet." 

(34)  §  43-  Old  Latin  words  found  in  Ennius,  but  not  in 
later  Latin  literature,  have  been  collected  by  A.  Reichardt, 
-Jahrbucher  fur  PhiloL,"  1889,  pp.  81  sqq.:  the  old  Latin 
words  in  Plautus  by  H.  A.  Koch,  Rhein.  Mus.  xxv,  617, 
and  S  Bugge,  "  Neue  Jahrb.  f.  Phil.,"  1872,  91  s^^-  For 
hybrid  formations,  see  Tuchhandler,  "  De  Vocabuhs 
Graecis  in  Linguam  Latinam  translatis,"  Berliner  Dissert., 
1876,  p.  64;  and  Weise's  essays  in  Bezzenberger's  "  Beitrage 
zur  Kunde  der  Indog.  Sprachen,"  ix,  90  sgq.,  and  Philologus, 

N.  F.  i,  45-52. 

(35).  Cf.  Schulze,  "  De  Archaismis  Sallustianis,"  Halle, 
1871 ;  Briinnert,  "  De  Sallustio  imitatore  Catonis,  Sisennae 
aliorumque    veterum   historicorum   Romanorum,"   Berlin, 

1864.  ,  -    . 

(36).  Cf.  more  especially  §  44-   In  Cato  alone  we  find  no 


NOTES 


235 


less  than  five  similes  drawn  from  the  theatre:  2,  6;  10,  48; 
18,64;  19,  70;  23,  86. 

(37)  §  50.  Cicero  (De  Fin.  iii,  2,  5)  pronounces  this 
opinion  as  to  the  borrowing  of  Greek  terminations:  "  Quodsi 
in  lingua  concessum  est,  ut  doctissimi  homines  de  rebus 
non  pervagatis  Jnusitatis  verbis  uterentur,  quanto  id  nobis 
magis  concedendum,  quia  ea  nunc  primum  audemus 
attingere?  " 

(38)  §  51.  Cf.  Herder,  "  Samtliche  Werke,"  ii,  11,  258, 
der  Cottaschen  Ausgabe  von  1862:  "Such  names  were 
rejected  by  a  general  code  of  honour  as  improper:  the 
objects  denoted  by  such  names,  however,  are  not  regarded 
as  improper:  nor  indeed  is  there  any  diminution  in  the 
desire  to  find  some  way  of  indicating  these  objects,  inno- 
cent as  they  are,  and  to  do  this  gracefully.  This  is  the 
origin  of  the  polite  words  d  double  entente  of  modern 
society.  Two  or  three  expressions  were  ostracized  from 
the  standard  language  of  respectability  and  consigned  to 
the  populace.  But  twenty  periphrases,  fifty  "flowers  of 
speech,"  and  a  hundred  expressions  a  double  entente  were 
accepted  in  their  place.  These  pass  unperceived  save  by 
the  subtlest  minds.  And  this  was  called  "  the  modest  and 
simple  language  of  the  century  "  [cf.  hoovufAog :  for  apio-Tspo;]. 

(39)  §  53-  He  was  reproached  that  it  was  his  way,  "a 
prisca  consuetudine  movere  et  ad  formas  Graecas  verborum 
magis  revocare."  For  the  Greek  inflexional  terminations  in 
Roman  poets  cf.  L.  Sniehotta, "  De  vocum  graecarum  apud 
Latinos  poetas  ab  Ennio  usque  ad  Ovidi  tempora  usu." 
Breslauer  philolog.  Abhandlungen  ix,  2,  Breslau,  1908; 
A.Thiel,"Juvenalisgraecissans,"  Breslau,  1901,  pp.  i43  •^^^• 

(40)  §  54.  Even  Livy  borrows  much  from  the  Augustan 
poets,  especially  from  Vergil,  and  not  merely  single  words 
but  entire  phrases  like  "haec  ubi  dicta  dedit,"  xxii,  50,  10; 
"nubes  iaculorum,"  xxi,  55;  cf  Aen.  x,  8o8,"nubes  belli." 
Cf.  also  Decolle,  "  Reste  elegischer  Poesie  im  Livius,"  Ber- 
liner philolog.  Wochenschrift,  1892,  Sp.  835,  and  Stacey, 
«  Die  Entwickelung  des  Livianischen  Stils,"  Archiv  f  lat. 
Lexicogr.  x,  17  sqg.  (1898).  Of  319  words  created  by  Vergil 


236 


NOTES 


NOTES 


237 


no  less  than  57  are  repeated  by  Tacitus.  The  articles  by 
A.  Czyczkiewicz,  "  De  Taciti  sermonis  proprietatibus^  prae- 
cipue  quae  ad  poeticum  dicendi  genus  pertineant."  The 
articles  by  Brody,  1890  and  1891,  and  those  by  Dosson, 
"Etude  sur  Quinte  Curce,"  Paris,  1887,  278  sqq.,  are  also 

worth  consulting. 

(41)  §  55.  He  never  employs  them  in  letters  addressed 
to  Tiro  and  Atticus,  and  in  those  to  Terentia  he  does  so 
out  of  "imple  politeness:  on  the  other  hand  he  employs 
them  regularly  in  official  documents  and  in  replies  to  people 
who  had  themselves  employed  them. 

(42)  §  57.  The  "  Argonautica  "  of  Valerius  Flaccus  con- 
tain III  similes:  on  the  numerous  metaphors  found  in 
Tacitus  cf.  Drager,  "  Einleitung  zu  Tac.  Ann."  pp.  30  sqq. ; 
A.  Stitz,  "Die  Metapher  bei  Tacitus,"  Krems,  1883,  1884; 
Joh.  Kitt,  "De  Translationibus  Taciteis,"  Konitz,  1884; 
on  the  Personifications  of  Tacitus  see  the  work  of  F.  Meyer, 
Gottingen,  1884. 

(43)  §  57-  There  are  striking  resemblances,  too,  m 
the  writing,  and  in  the  architecture  of  both  periods.  The 
shapes  of  the  letters  are  in  both  periods  curved  and  spread 
out:  in  architecture  during  the  empire  under  the  Claudian 
dynasty  vanity  and  luxury  caused  gigantic  buildings  to  be 
raised,  while  in  the  time  of  the  Antonines  the  buildings 
were  overladen  with  ornamentation,  just  as  in  Germany 
during  the  prevalence  of  the  Barocco  style. 

(44)  §  58.  Quintilian,  too,  recommends  the  employment 
of  archaic  words  (i,  6),  provided  that  they  be  only  used 
occasionally,  and  not  too  ostentatiously  paraded.   Cf.,  too 

Gell.  Noct.  Att.  i,  10. 

(45)  §  5S.  The  style  of  Tacitus  and  its  historical  develop- 
ment is  treated  by  E.  Wolfflin,  "  Philologus,"  xxv,  92  sqq.\ 
xxvi,  92  sqq.\  xxvii,  113  sqq.  Cf,  too,  E.  Norden,  "  Die 
antike  Kunstprosa,"  Leipzig,  1898;  ii,  pp.  321  sqq,  (Tacitus) : 
also  Gontrelle,  "  Grammaire  et  style  de  Tac,"  Pans,  1874; 
E.  Wolff,  "  Die  Sprache  des  Tacitus,"  Frankfurt  a  M,  1879; 
Drager,  "  Uber  Syntax  und  Stil  des  Tacitus,"  3  Aufl. 
Leipzig,  1882;  Constans,  "  Etude  sur  la  langue  de  Tacite," 


Paris,  1893;  E.  Kucera,  "  Uber  die  taciteische  Inconcin- 
nitat,"  Olmiitz,  1882;  C.  Clemm,  "de  breviloquentiae  Taci- 
teae  quibusdam  generibus,"  Leipzig,  1881;  R.  Schmidt, 
"  De  ellipsi  Tac,"  Dramburg,  1871. 

(46)  §  60.  H.  Corvinus  in  the  "  Zeitscrift  fur  gymnasial- 
wesen"  (1890),  p.  319,  says:  "  In  poetry  as  contrasted  with 
the  dull  sobriety  of  prose,  ordinary  subjects  of  apprehen- 
sion, the  creations  of  poetic  fancy,  seem  actually  trans- 
figured :  they  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  conceptions  of 
Prose  as  the  image  mirrored  on  the  blue  water-surface 
bears  to  the  stiff  object  mirrored,  standing  out  in  bold  relief 
under  the  sober  light  of  day.  Just  as  the  mirrored  image 
attracts  our  gaze  with  its  supernal  charm,  so  does  the  ever 
enchanting  profundity  of  the  poet's  words  attract  and 
captivate  the  soul  of  his  hearers."  On  the  poetical  Lan- 
guage of  Rome  cf  J.  Golling,  "Syntax  der  lateinischen 
Dichtersprache,"  Wien,  1892;  Kone, "  Uber  die  Sprache  der 
romischen  Epiker,"  Munster,  1840;  L.  Miiller,  "  Q.  Ennius, 
eine  Einleitung  in  das  Studium  der  rom.  Poesie,"  Peters- 
burg, 1884;  R.  Stern, "  Grundriss  einer  Grammatik  fiir  rom. 
Dichter,"  Arnsberg,  185 1 ;  C.  G.  Jacob,  "  Quaestiones  epicae 
siva  symbolae  ad  grammaticam  latinam  poeticam,"  Oued- 
linburg,  1839. 

(47)  §  62.  Just  so  C.  Humbert  in  a  treatise  on  the  laws 
of  French  verse  has  shown  that  the  spirit  of  the  French 
language,  and  also  the  French  national  character,  exhibits 
itself  in  the  poetry  of  the  French  nation:  particularly  in 
the  stress  accent,  the  dislike  of  the  massing  of  consonants 
and  of  hiatus ;  and  Herder  says :  "  Poetry  is  the  very 
Proteus  of  the  nations  :  it  changes  its  form  according  to 
their  language,  their  customs,  their  habits,  their  temper- 
ament and  their  climate;  yes,  and  even  according  to  their 
accent."   [Cf  Tobler  vers  frangais,  Paris,  1885.] 

(48)  §  62.  In  Ennius,  out  of  519  verses,  31  end  in 
words  of  four  syllables,  in  which  the  first  two  syllables  are 
short,  so  that  this  peculiarity  is  found  in  that  poet  on 
the  average  once  in  every  17  verses,  in  Lucretius  once  in 
every  36  verses,  and  henceforward    it  becomes  rarer  and 


238 


NOTES 


rarer.  In  Catullus  the  proportion  is  i  to  134;  in  Horace's 
Epistles  I  to  197  (Satires,  i.  83);  in  Vergil  i  to  261 ;  in 
Ovid  I  to  1,500;  cf.  also  W.  Meyer,"  Zur  Gesch.  d.  Griech. 
und  lat  Hexameters,"  Munchen,  1884;  C.  F.  Hultgren. 
"Die  Technik  der  rom.  Dichter  im  Epischen  und  eleg. 
Versmasse,"  Jahrbucher  fur  Phil.  1873,  745  m'\  Lorey, 
«  Die  Schwierigkeiten  der  Anwendung  der  Griech.  Metrums 
auf  die  lat.  Sprache,"  Hameln,  1874. 

(49)  §  64.  Cf.,  too,  Fisch,  "  Programm  des  Andreas-Real- 
evmnasiums  zu  Berlin,"  1888,  p.  23. 

(50)  %^7^  Cf  CFreytag,"  Technik  des  Dramas,^  p.  275. 
J  H  von  Kirchmann  is  of  the  same  opinion  in  his  intro- 
duction to  the  study  of  philosophical  works,  p.  27:  "The 
Sciences  concern  themselves  merely  with  general  concep- 
tions of  things:  the  Fine  Arts  on  the  other  hand  aim  at  the 
representation  of  a  particular  object ;  it  may  be  a  monument 
of  architecture,  of  a  statue,  of  a  picture,  or  a  piece  of  music. 
Poetry  likewise  creates  some  such  special  object  or  unity  in 
the  imagination  of  the  poet:  but  since  the  latter,  in  order  to 
impart  an  appreciation  of  his  picture  to  others,  can  only 
employ  conceptions  of  general  application,  it  follows  that 
he  never  perfectly  achieves  his  end,^  and  the  picture  given 
by  poetry  hovers  between  the  general  concept  and  the  in- 
dividual unity.  This  explains  the  fact  that  the  poets,  in  the 
construction  of  their  language,  aim  at  individualizing  their 
subjects,  and  making  them  stand  out  in  bold  relief,  while 
the  thinkers  are  constant  in  their  endeavours  so  to  develop 
their  language  that  it  may  serve  to  express  general  con- 
ceptions  and  lofty  ideas."  ^ 

(51)  §70-  O"  ^^^  Figures  of  Speech  in  the  Roman 
poets,  and  more  particularly  on  Synecdoche  and  Metonymy, 
see  E.  Lindskog,  "  In  tropos  scriptorum  Latinorum  studia, 

Upsala,  1903.  ^        \      c^A  \ 

(•52)  5  73.  This  tendency  appears  very  strongly,  Ud.  1, 
36,  where  he  speaks  of  "  Erycina  ridens,  Quam  locus  cir- 
cumvolat  et  Cupido,"  etc.   Cf,  too,  Od.  iii,  24,  4;  1,  3S,  17; 

*  For  this  view  cf  Nietzsche,  "  Origin  of  Tragedy,"  §  6  ad  fin. 


NOTES 


239 


if,  17,  22;  17,  IS;  ii,  2,  7;  iii,  2,  32;  iv,  5,  24;  iv,  14,  4; 
Tibull.  i,  9,  4;  Propertius,  iv,  22,  20;  and  G.  Dannehl,  "  De 
Tropis  I :  De  translationis,  metonymiae,  synechdoches  apud 
poetas  Augustei  aevi  usu,"  Hallische  Dissert,  1868. 

(53)  §  75-  Cf  Catull.  61,  202;  Prop,  iii,  15,  31;  32,49; 
1,  15,  29;  ii,  3,  5;  Verg.  Eel.  i,  59;  i",  9i;  iv,  91;  Hor.  Ep. 
16,  31 ;  Ov.  Ex  Pont,  ii,  6,  37;  iv,  5,  41 ;  Met.  xiii,  324;  xi, 
315;  Trist.  i,  8,  i;  iv,  i,  57;  Ars  Am.  i,  748.  On  late 
Roman  poets  like  Claudian  and  Nemesianus  consult  Biese, 
"Naturgefuhl  bei  den  Romern,"  p.  143:  on  the  same 
subject  in  German  see  Weise's  "  Abhandlung  in  der  Zeit- 
schrift  fiir  hochdeutsche  Mundarten,"  iii,  47  sqq, 

(54)  §  75-  Even  descriptions  and  sketches  are  affected 
by  the  influence  of  all  powerful  rhetoric,  and  Seneca  has 
good  grounds  for  jesting  (Apocolocynthosis,  2,  3)  at  the 
poets,  because,  as  he  says:  "  acquiescunt  oneri  poetae, 
non  contenti  ortus  et  occasus  describere,  ut  etiam  medium 
diem  inquietent."  The  places  in  which  all  the  tricks  and 
devices  of  rhetorical  technique  are  most  fully  displayed, 
are  the]  speeches  placed  by  the  Epic  poets  in  the  mouths 
of  their  heroes,  and  the  Dialogue  of  the  Drama.  The 
representation  of  the  struggles  which  agitated  Dido  in 
the  Aeneid,  or  Medea  in  Ovid,  may  well  be  paralleled  with 
the  regular  Suasoriae.  Aspiring  orators  modelled  them- 
selves on  these  and  other  masterpieces,  indeed  Vergil, 
during  the  Empire,  was  always  regarded  as  the  Classic 
aid  to  rhetorical  studies,  and  employed  as  such.  Cf.,  too, 
H.  Peter,  "  Rhetorik  und  Poesie  im  klassisch.  Altertum.'* 
Jahrbucher  fur  das  klass.  Altertum,  1898,  i,  637  sqq. 

(55)  §  76-  The  first  figure  is  found  in  his  works  102 
times,  in  the  second  book  of  1,362  verses  62  times,  while 
TibuUus  employs  them  in  the  first  two  books,  i,e.,  in  1,352 
verses,  only  24  times:  the  last  occurs  in  Propertius  more 
frequently  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  Roman  poets  together, 

e.g,,  i,  I,  19,  20,  39,  etc.  ^ 

(56)  §  'jj.  The  historical  development  of  this  infinitival 
construction  is  traced  by  Drager,  and  also  by  Schmalz  in 
Iwan  Miiller's  Handbuch,  ii,  pp.  3^9  •^^^-  (§  217  -S"^^-  of  his 


240  NOTES 

Latin    Syntax).    Special  notice  is  taken  of  the  works  of 
Ennius  Lucretius,  and  the  Augustan  poems. 

(57)  §  78.  Cf.,  too,   Heerdegen,    "  Untersuchungen   zur 
lateinischen  Semasiologie,"  ii,  p.  64.   ^  _ 

M)  5  78.  E.g.  Aen.  ix,  98-103;  vi,  45i;  vni,  213,  407, 
xi  309    In  Propertius,  too,  we  meet  with  long  periods,  eg 
i    II     9.18;    iii,    14,    i-io:    Tibullus   avoids    them.      On 
Lucretius  and  Catullus  see  above.  §  24. 

rcQ^  5  80  On  these  and  other  characteristics  of  the  Ian- 
guage  of  poetry  consult ''  Phil.  Wegener,  Neuhaldenslebener 
Frogramm,"  1889,  pp.  18  sqq. 

(60)  §80.  Cf.  Hor.  Ep.  II,  2,  115: 

Obscurata  diu  populo  bonus  eruet  atque 
Proferet  in  lucem  speciosa  vocabula  rerum, 
Quae  priscis  memorata  Catonibus  atque  Cethegis 
Nunc  situs  informis  premit  et  deserta  vetustas. 

Goethe,  who  in  his  "Iphigeni."  and  his  "Tasso"uses 
the  best  literary  German,  employs  in  others  of  his  poem^ 
strikincx  archaisms:  as,  for  instance,  in  his"  Gotz,    in  some 
parts  of  "Faust,"    in   the  legend  of  the   horseshoe    and 
n  Hans  Sachs'  "  Poetische  Sendung."     He  has  complete  y 
succeeded   in   his   design    of    reproducing   the   old-wodd 
colour,  and  in  suiting  the  language  of  the  P-sonages^^ 
introduces  to  the  old-fashioned  times  in  which  they    - 
and  speak.    In  this  free  intermixture  of  words  and  forms 
o?  wofds  of  different  ages  Poetry  found  a  rich  recompense 
for  the  retrenchment  of  vocabulary  imposed  upon  it  by 
the  exigences  of  metre.    For  many  words  could  not  accom- 
modate themselves  to  the  rhythm,  and  these  had  accord^ 
insly  to  be  excluded  from  the  poet's  use  and  replaced  by 
others.   Thus  Homer  could  not  employ  words  like  .oxs/x., 
rhe  uses  ^&.  .x,.xoWov,  etc.):  in  the  same  way  v^fuperare 
was   useless   for  the  purpose  of  the   dactylic  Poet^    ^nd 
had  to  be  replaced  by  refrekendere     E"7^^^"  j/^^^^^^^^ 
use  feroda  and  tenacta,  but  not  the  words  in^  -fas  which 
correspond  thereto,  because  they  would  not  suit  the  verse 
For  qmUHordecimVevg,.  Aen.  i,  71,  ^^ses  dis  septent',  for 


NOTES 


241 


explicari  we  have  in  the  same  poem  explicui-.  for  capiti- 
^aj  ;(Aen.  ii,  219),  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  word  is 
connected  with  cervicibuSy  we  have  the  singular  capite. 
Celeriter  with  its  four  short  syllables  was  replaced  by  celer^ 
cituSy  etc.  In  the  case  of  forms  like  deeraty  deindey  arjetey 
parjetibus  (Aen.  ii,  442),  semjanimisy  alteriuSy  etc.,  recourse 
was  had  to  synizesis,  dissolution  of  semi-vowels  or  shorten- 
ing of  vowels. 

(61)  §  82.  Herewith  should  be  mentioned  the  essay  of 
Reichardt,  "  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Philologie,"  1889,  i,  pp.  797  sqq.y 
on  the  archaisms  in  Vergil:  cf.,  too,  Wotke,  "Wiener 
Studien,"  viii,  1 31-148. 

(62)  §  ^2.  E.  Appel,  "  De  Genere  Neutro  intereunte  in 
Lingua  Latina,"  Munchener  Dissert.,  Erlangen,  1883, 
remarks  that  the  poets  who  employ  hexameters  prefer  to 
write  gaudiuy  incendiay  conviviay  etc.,  rather  than  gaudiufUy 
incendiuniy  conviviujn  with  elision.  In  Ovid  the  Plural 
occurs  more  than  50  times,  the  Singular  not  once.  Even 
syntactic  innovations  follow  under  the  stress  of  metre. 
As  "  cruribus  tenus "  would  not  come  into  hexameter 
verse,  Vergil  writes  (Georg.  iii,  53):  "  Et  crurum  tenus  a 
mento  palearia  pendent,"  and  Catullus,  for  the  same 
reason,  writes  for  "  nutricibus  tenus,"  "  nutricum  tenus,"  64, 
18.  This  was  remarked  even  by  the  ancients:  and  thus  we 
read  in  the  Corp.  Gloss,  v,  248,  19:  "  tenus  praepositionem 
Vergilius  necessitate  metri  genetivo  pluralis  inuxit."  Cf., 
too,  E.  Wolfflin,  "  Hexameter  und  Silberne  Prosa,"  Archiv 
f.  lat.  Lexicogr.,  xi,  503  sqq, 

(63)  §  82.  Ribbeck,  "History  of  Roman  Poetry,"  ii,  339: 
"  Certain  beginnings  and  endings  of  verses,  the  choice  and 
position  of  certain  words,  certain  similes  and  figures  of 
speech,  were  for  definite  purposes  bequeathed  by  one  poet 
to  another,  and  their  use  became  traditional."  Cf.,  too, 
A.  Zingerle,  "Ovid  und  sein  Verhaltniss  zu  den  Vorgangern 
und  den  gleichzeitigen  romischen  Dichtern,"  Innsbruck, 
1 869- 1 87 1 ;  Schmalz,  "  Zeitschr.  fiir  Gymnasial wesen,"  1 890, 
718  sqq, 

(64)  §  83.  E.g.  Vergil,  Aen.  iv,  451:  "it  clamor  caelo." 

R 


242 


NOTES 


Ovid,  Met.  ii,  580:  "  tendebam  brachia  caelo."  Vergil, 
Georg.  iv,  562:  "  viamque  affectat  Olympo."  Hon  Od.  1, 
28,  10:  "Oreo  demissus,"  Prop,  i,  15,  29:  "nulla  prius 
vasto  labentur  flumina  ponto."  Aen.  vi,  126:  "  facilis 
descensus  Averno." 

(65)  §  84.  The  new  words  formed  by  Ovid  have  been 
collected  by  Drager  in  the  Auricher  Programm,  1888,  p.  1 7- 
He  calculates  their  number  at  392,  including  153  which 
occur   in   his   writings   alone,   and    139   *^«^   £i>/x£v«  like 
repostor,  novatrix,  renovamen.    According  to  E.  Linse,  "  De 
P.  Ovidio  Nasone  Verborum  inventore,"  Leipziger  Dissert., 
1891,  the  number  of  these  new  words  is  487.     Besides 
these,  the  following  works  are  worth  consulting:  H.  Ploen, 
«  De  copiae  verborum  differentiis  inter  varia  poesis  Ro- 
manae   antiquioris    genera    intercedentibus,''    Strassburg, 
1883,  with  interesting  collections  of  words  in  -tudo,  -tas, 
•ntia\  Deipser,  "  Uber  die  Bildung  und  Bedeutung  der  lat. 
Adjectiva  auf-/^r  und  -ger;'  Bromberg,  1886;  Seitz,  "  De 
Fixis   Poetarum    Latinorum    epithetis,"   Elberfeld,   1890; 
Ladewig,  "De  Vergilio  verborum  Novatore,"  Neustreliz, 
1870;    E.   Stephani,  "  De   Martiale  verborum   novatore," 
Breslau,  1889;  A.  Rothmaler,  "  De  Horatio  verborum  in- 
ventore,"  Berlin,    1862;    C.   Zangemeister,    "  De    Horatii 
vocibus  singularibus,"  Berlin,  1862 ;  R  Teuffel, "  De  Catulli, 
TibuUi,  Propertii  vocibus  singularibus,"  Freiburg  im  Breis- 
gau,  1872;  W.Schneider,"  De  Propertio sermonis  novatore 
et   amplificatore,"    Strassburg,    1888;    G.    Bordello,   "  De 
linguae  Latinae  nominibus  -men  et  -mento  ope  formatis,' 
Grossglogau,  1879;  W.  Wilbertz,  "  De  adjectivis  poetarum 
Latinorum    usque    ad    Catullum    compositis,"    Marburg, 

1884. 
(66)  §  86.  Cic.  Orator,  202:  "  Poetae  transferunt  verba 

cum  crebrius  tum  audacius."    De  Or.  iii,  43,  170^  "Trans- 

latum  verbum  maxime  tamquam  stellis  quibusdam  notat 

et  illuminat  orationem."   On  the  metaphorical  use  oUurvus, 

uncus,  etc.,  introduced  by  Horace,  cf  A.  Moller,  "  Archiv  f. 

Lexicogr.,"  iii,  117  sqq.,  and  Preuss,  "Die  metaphorische 

Kunst  Vergils  in  der  Aeneide,"  Graudenz,  1894;  R-  Brau- 


NOTES 


243 


miiller,  "Uber  Tropen  und  Figuren  in  Vergils  Aneide," 
Berlin,  1877  and  1882;  P.  Langen,  "Die  Metapher  im 
Latein  von  Plautus  bis  Terenz,"  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Philol., 
1882,  pp.  673  sqq.,  753  sqq.]  S.  von  Raumer,"  Die  Metapher 
bei  Lukrez,"  Erlangen,  1893;  L.  Geuther,  "  Uber  den  Ge- 
brauch  der  Metapher  bei  Juvenal,"  Wittenberg,  1878. 

(^7)  §  ^7'  The  latest  critical  inquiry  into  the  whole 
question  is  from  the  pen  of  J.  Shafler,  Amberg,  1884, 
p.  95.  Other  papers  on  the  same  subject  appear  in  the 
"Zeitschrift  fiir  Gymnasialwesen,"  1886,  p.  23:  see  also 
M.  Brenous,  "  Etudes  sur  les  hellenismes  dans  la  syntaxe 
Latine,"  Paris,  1895;  Piger,  "  Die  sogenannten  Gracismen 
im  Gebrauche  des  lat.  Accus.,"  Iglau,  1879;  Engelhardt, 
"Passive  Verba  mit  dem  Accus.  und  der  sogenannte 
Accusativus  graecus  bei  den  latein.  Epikern,"  Bromberg, 
1879;  G.  Landgraf,  "  Der  Ace.  der  Beziehung  nach  Adj., 
Subst.  und  pass.  Verben,"  Archiv  fiir  Lexikogr.,  x,  209- 
224;  H.  Tillman,"  De  dativo  verbis  passivis  linguae  latinae, 
subjecto,  qui  vocatur  Graecus,"  Acta  semin.  philol.,  Er- 
lang.,  ii  (1881),  71-140;  H.  Dittel,  "De  infinitivi  apud 
Horatium  usu,"  Ried,  1881;  G.  Overholthaus,  "  Syntaxis 
Catullianae  capita  H  Diss.,"  Gottingen,  1875;  G.  V.  Bucht, 
"De  Usu  Infinitivi  apud  Ovidium,"  Upsala,  1875;  E.  Trill- 
haas,  "Der  Infinitiv  bei  Ovid,"  Erlangen,  1877;  v.  Steltzer, 
"  Uber  den  Gebrauch  des  Infinitivs  bei  Vergil,"  Nordhausen, 
1875;  C.  Wagener,"Der  Infin.  nach  Adj.  bei  Horaz,"  Neue 
philol.  Rundschau,  1902,  pp.  1-9.  In  65  places  in  Horace 
adjectives  are  found  connected  with  an  infinitive,  and  of 
these  32  are  followed  by  a  genitive  case. 

{6S)  §  88.  The  judgment  pronounced  by  Cicero  on  the 
productions  of  Lucretius  holds  good  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  of  all  the  Roman  poets  (Ad  Quintum  fratrem,  ii, 
II):  "Non  multis  luminibus  ingenii,  multae  tamen  artis." 
Their  imaginative  powers  were  by  no  means  extensive: 
their  greatest  success  lay  in  Elegiac  poems  and  in  Satire, 
which  suited  the  particular  bent  of  their  genius.  There 
were  very  few  who  could  say  with  Ovid :  "  Quidquid  tenta- 
bam  dicere,  versus  erat"  [or  with  Pope:  "  I  lisped  in  num- 


244 


NOTES 


bers,  for  the  numbers  came."  Quintilian's  proud  boast  may 
be  remembered  here :  "  Satira  tota  nostra  est "]. 

(69)  §  89.  Cf.  K.  Sittl, "  Jahresbericht  liber  das  Vulgar- 
und  Spatlatein,"  1884- 1890,  im  Jahresber.  uber  die  Fortschr. 
d.  klass.  Altertumswissensch.,  Ixviii,  226-286;  P.  Monceaux, 
"  Le  Latin  d'apres  les  dernieres  publications,"  Revue  des 
deux   Mondes,   1891,   15  JuH,  429-448;   M.  Bonnet,  "  Le 
Latin  de  Gr^goire  de  Tours,"  Paris,  1890,  783  PP-,  numerous 
papers  in  Wolfflin's  "  Archiv  f.  Lexikogr.,"  Leipzig,  1844, 
sqq,\  Wolfflin,  "  Uber  die  Latinitat  des  Africaners  Cassius 
Felix,"  Munchen,  1880;  H.  Ronsch,  "  Itala  und  Vulgata," 
2  Aufl.,  Marburg,  1875;   H.  Hoppe,  "  Syntax  und  Stil  des 
Tertullian,"  Leipzig,  1903;  H.  Glasener,  "  Grammatik  des 
Laktanz,"  Musee  Beige,  190x3,  pp.  26  sqq.,  223  sqq.,  1901, 
pp.  65  sqq,,  293  sqq, ;  W.  Kalb,  -  Roms  Juristen  nach  ihrer 
Sprache  dargestellt,"  Leipzig,  1890;  F.  Polle,  "Wie  denkt 
das   Volk   liber   die   Sprache?"    3    Aufl.,   Leipzig,   1904; 
O.  Rebling,  "  Versuch  einer  Charakteristik  der  rom.  Um- 
gangssprache,"    2   Abdruck,    Kiel,    1883;    P.  Meyer,  "  De 
Ciceronis   in   Epistulis   ad  Atticum   Sermone,"  Bayreuth, 
1887;  A.  Skinner,  "  De  eo,  quo  Cicero  in  epistulis  usus  sit 
sermone,"   Oppeln,   1879,  sqq.\    R.  Klein,  "Uber  Ciceros 
Briefstil."   Chemnitz,    189S  ;    Koffmane,  "  Geschichte   des 
Kirchenlateins,"  1879. 

(70)  §  89.  Sittl  assumes  that  there  were  three  kinds  of 
well-defined  non-classical  Latin:  (i),  the  language  of  the 
peasantry  {rusticitas\  and  (2)  the   language  spoken  (not 
written)   by    the   educated  classes  {sermo  cotidianus,  con- 
suetudo),  (3)  a  dialect  standing  midway  between  the  two 
spoken  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  small  towns  {pppidamim 
dicendi  genus) ;  see  his  lecture  read  before  the  Gorlitzer 
Philologenversammlung,    1889,   and    cf.    "  Jahrbucher   fur 
Phil.,"  1890,  ii,  p.  142.    He  will  not  allow  either  inscriptions 
or  writers  to  be  the  authorities  on  Vulgar  Latin,  but  he 
regards  the  Romance  languages  alone  as  such.   The  litera- 
ture commonly  quoted  as  authoritative  on  the  subject  is, 
according  to  him,  composed  neither  in  refined  nor  in  popular 
Latin,  but  merely  in  bad  Latin.    He  probably  goes  too  far 


NOTES 


245 


in  this  assertion.  No  doubt  it  is  true  that  no  literary  record 
can  give  us  sufficient  data  on  which  to  found  a  satisfactory 
theory  of  the  pronunciation  and  accentuation  of  Vulgar 
Latin,  but  the  form  taken  by  the  words,  and  the  syntax, 
and  the  peculiarities  in  the  formation  and  signification  of 
the  words,  are  shown  by  the  traits  of  agreement  in  all  the 
authorities  mentioned,  to  mark  a  dialect  contrasting  with  the 
language  of  the  refined  classes :  we  may  therefore  fairly  call 
this  dialect  "  the  vulgar  tongue." 

(71)  §  90.  This  holds  good  more  particularly  of  the  so- 
called  Svarabhakti,  i.e.,  the  insertion  of  a  vowel  sound  before 
or  after  r,  /,  n :  this  sound  developed  itself  from  the  pitch 
accent  of  these  liquids  in  cases  where  a  consonant  preceded 
or  followed  them,  e.g.^  Terebo7iius=  Trebonius :  Militiades  — 
Miltiades,  Cf  J.  Schmidt,  "  Zur  Geschichte  des  indoger- 
manischen  Vokalismus,"  ii,  342-370;  Corssen,  "  Vokalismus 
usf ,"  ii,  384  sqq. 

(72)  §  90.  For  this  section  reference  may  be  made  to 
H.  Schuchardt,  "  Der  Vokalismus  des  Vulgarlateins," 
Leipzig,  1 866- 1 868;  E.  Seelmann,  "Die  Aussprache  des 
Lateins  nach  physiologisch-historischen  Grundsatzen," 
Heilbronn,  1885;  K.  Sittl,  "Die  lokalen  Verschiedenheiten 
der  latein.  Sprache,"  Erlangen,  1882;  Diez,  "  Grammatik 
der  romanischen  Sprachen,"  pp.  170  sqq.\  G.  Landgraf, 
"  Historische  Gramm.  der  lat.  Sprache,"  Leipzig,  1903. 
[Cf  also  Grandgent, "  Vulgar  Latin,"  Heath,  Boston,  1907; 
Lindsay's  Latin  Grammar.] 

(73)  §93.  Cf.  Schuchardt,  "Vokalismus  des  Vulgarla- 
teins," i,  34,  232;  O.  Sievers,"  Quaestiones  onomatologicae  " 
in  Ritschl's  "Acta  societatis  philol.  Lipsiensis,"  ii,  55-I04; 
M.  Bonnet,  "  Le  Latin  de  Gregoire  de  Tours,"  pp.  349  sqq.\ 
Bucheler-Windekilde,  "  Grundriss  der  lat.  Deklination," 
Bonn,  1879;  F.  Neue,  "  Formenlehre  der  lat.  Sprache," 
2  Aufl.,  Berlin,  1875-1877. 

(74)  §  93-  Cf ,  too,  the  treatise  by  E.  Appel,  "  De  Genere 
Neutro  Intereunte  in  Lingua  Latina,"  Erlangen,  1883; 
W.  Meyer,  "  Das  Schicksal  des  lat.  Neutrums  im  Roman- 
ischen," Halle,  1883;  and  H.  Suchier,"Der  Untergang  der 


246 


NOTES 


geschlechtlosen  Substantivform,"  Archiv  f.  Lexicogr.,  iii, 
161  sqq.  Forms  like  la  riponse,  la  merveille,  are  to  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  plurals  like  responsa  and  mirabilia 
were  treated  as  nouns  singular  of  the  first  declension- 
[See  the  whole  question  well  and  fully  treated  by  Darmes- 
teter, "  Historical  French  Grammar,"  1899,  pp.  225-231.  See 
also  Grandgent,  §  352:  "  In  late  Latin  this  collective  plural 
in  -a  came  to  be  taken  for  a  feminine  singular":  cf  "  Ne 
forte  et  mihi  haec  eveniat,"  Ronsch,  "  Itala  und  Vulgata," 
1869.]  The  Patristic  Fathers  actually  preferred  sometimes 
to  change  the  classical  genders  ;  cf.  St.  Jerome,  who  on 
Ezekiel  40  writes  that  he  purposely  substitutes  cubitus  for 
cubitum,  to  be  better  understood  by  his  readers. 

(75)  §  94.  Ott,  "  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Philol.  und  Padagog.," 
1874,  pp.  781  sqq.\  Ronsch,"  Itala  und  Vulgata,"  pp.  22-257; 
H.  Ulrich,  "  De  Vitruvii  copia  verborum,"  Frankenthal, 
1883,  und  Schwabach,  1885;  Stunkel,  "  De  Varroniana 
verborum  formatione,"  Strassburg,  1875;  R-  Fisch,  "  Die 
lat.  nomina  personalia  auf  -o,  -onis,  ein  Beitrag  zur  Kenntnis 
des  Vulgarlateins,"  Berlin,  1890. 

(76)  §  96.  J.  N.  Ott,  "Rottweiler  Programm,"  1874, 
reckons  in  all  no  less  than  208  such  substantives  which 
may  be  omitted  at  will :  cf.,  too,  Drager,  "  Historische 
Syntax  der  lat.  Sprache,"  i,  47  sqq.,  and  T.  C.  Rolfe, 
"  Archiv  fur  Lex.,"  x,  229  sqq.  on  the  Ellipse  o{  Ars. 

{77)  §  99-  More  details  are  given  in  Andresen,  "  Uber 
deutsche  Volksetymologie,"  pp.  17  sqq.,  and  in  Weise's 
essays  on  the  "  Charakteristik  der  Volksetymologie,"  in 
the  "  Zeitschrift  fur  Volkerpsychologie  und  Sprachwissen- 
schaft,"  Bd.  xii,  pp.  203  sqq.,  and  in  Bezzenberger's  "  Bei- 
trage  zur  kunde  der  indogermanischen  Sprachen,"  Bd.  v, 
pp.  68  sqq. :  also  Weise's  treatise  on  the  Greek  words  in 
Latin,  Leipzig,  1882,  pp.  67-75.  [See,  too,  "English  Folk 
etymology,"  by  Smythe  Palmer  (Bell  and  Sons,  1882). 
"  The  violent  dislike  to  the  use  of  a  word  entirely  new  to 
us,  and  of  which  we  do  not  understand  the  source,  is  a 
matter  of  daily  experience;  and  the  tendency  to  give  a 
meaning   to  adopted   words  by  so  changing  them  as  to 


NOTES 


247 


remove  their  seemingly  arbitrary  character  has  exercised  a 
permanent  and  appreciable  influence  on  every  language" 
(Farrar,  "Origin  of  Language,"  p.  56,  quoted  by  Palmer, 

p.  x).] 

(78)  §  102.  Cf.,too,J.Grimm,  Gramm.,iii,726.r^^.;  Diez, 

«  Gramm.  d.  latein.  Sprache,"  iii,  431  ^<J^'  Examples  taken 
from  German  poetry  are  found  in  Hildebrand,  "  Zeitschrift 
fur  den  deutschen  Unterricht,"  iii,  2,  149  sqq.  [Cf.  Morris's 
"  Historical  outlines  of  English  Accidence,"  p.  201,  §  312: 
"  For  not,  not  a  whit  we  sometimes  find  7iot  a  jot,  not  a  bit": 
cf.  O.E.  never  a  del,  never  a  whit,  etc.] 

(79)  §  103-  Cf.  E.  Wolffiin,  "  Bemerkungen  uber  das 
Vulgarlatein,"  Philologus,  xxxiv,  pp.  127-165, bes.  152-158; 
K.  Sittl,  "  Archiv  f.  Lexikogr.,"  iv,  197-222;  R.  Jonas, "De 
verbis  frequentativis  et  intensivis,"  Posen,  1871,  1879, 
Meseritz,  1872;  Derselbe,  "Die  Verba  frequentativa  und 
intensitiva  bei  Livius,"  Posen,  1884;  C.  Paucker,  "  Kuhn's 
Zeitschr.  f.  vergl.  Sprachw.,"  N.F.  vi,  241-263  (1883). 
[For  double  comparisons  in  English,  see  Morris,  "  English 
Accidence,"  p.  196,  §111.  Even  adjectives  with  a  super- 
lative sense  are  sometimes  compared  as  "  perfectest," 
"  chiefest "  in  Shakespeare.] 

(80)  §  103.  Cf.  J.  N.  Ott,  "  liber  Doppelgradation  des 
lateinischen    Adjectivs,"   Jahrbiicher   fur   Philologie    und 
Padagogik,  1875,  pp.  787-800,  and  Wolfflin  in  "  Archiv  fur 
Philologie,"  i,  97  sqq. ;  H.  Ziemer,  "  Vergleichende  Syntax 
der   indogerm.    Komparation,"    Berlin,    1884;   Brix,  "  Zu 
Plant.  Trinummus  28."    It  is  also  curious  to  remark  the 
increasing   pretentiousness   of    Roman    titles.     Thus   the 
Emperors,  during  the  first  century,  were  usually  addressed 
simply  as  Imperator,  Caesar,  or  Augustus:  in  the  second 
century  we  find  adjectives  appended,  commonly  expres- 
sive  of  the  goodness  and  greatness   of  the   rulers,  such 
as  optimus,  maxinius:  in  the  third  century  we  find^  more 
exaggerated   epithets  applied,  such  as  perpetuus  victorio- 
sissimus  indulgentissinius  imperator  (of  Aurelian),  piissi- 
mus  fortissimus  felicissimus  dominus  nosteripi  Constantine), 
humanissimus  iftvictissimus  dominus  (id.),  nobilissimus  ac 


248 


NOTES 


fortissimus  ac  felicissimus  Caesar  (Constantius).  More  par- 
ticulars are  given  by  Chr.  Schoner,  "  Die  Titulaturen  der 
rom.  Kaiser,"  Act.  sem.  phil.  Erl,  ii,  449  sqq, 

(81)  §  103.  CfE.  W6lfflin,«Philologus,"xxxiv,pp.IS8- 
I6s. 

(82)  §  105.  Cicero  writes  in  his  letters  to  Atticus,  i,  12, 
4;  7,  10  ad  fin,  14,  7,  2:  "  Quicquid  in  buccam  venerit"— 
"  whatever  comes  into  your  mouth  " :  but  in  his  speeches 
and  philosophical  treatises  he  writes :  "  quicquid  in  mentem 
venit" 

(83)  §  106.  It  must  not,  however,  be  assumed  that  the 
people,  speaking  generally,  adopted  no  Greek  words:  on 
the  contrary,  their  contact  with  the  numerous  slaves  im- 
ported from  Greek-speaking  communities  must  have 
familiarized  them  with  many  Greek  expressions.  Many 
of  these  have  passed  into  Romance,  and  have  actually 
ousted  many  genuine  Latin  words:  as  nanus, petra,  zeluSy 
struthio,  which  have  taken  the  place  of  the  original  words 
pumilio,  saxum,  studium,  passer  marinus  (cf.  Fr.  nain,pierre, 
zele,autruche  =  avis  struthio)  [for  other  instances  see  Grand- 
gent,  §  19]. 

(84)  §  107.  See  J.  N.  Ott, "  Jahrbucher  fur  Philologie  und 
Padagogik,"  1874,  P-  575- 

(85)  §  108.  Cf.  L.  Schwabe,  "De  Deminutivis  Graeciset 
Latinis,"  1859;  G.  Muller,  "De  latinae  linguae  deminu- 
tivis," Leipzig,  1865;  E.  Wolfflin,  "  Philologus,"  xxxiv, 
153  sqq.\  Lorenz,  "  Einleitung  zu  Plaut.  Pseud.,"  pp.  ^^sqq.\ 
Stinner,  "  Uber  den  Stil  in  Ciceros  Briefen,"  pp.  9  sqq.  ; 
Paucker,  "Die  lat.  Deminutiva  auf  -ulus,  -ula,  -ulum," 
Mitau,  1876.  The  word  bellus  (diminutive  of  bonus  = 
benulus)  [rather  ben{d)los']  is  employed  by  Cicero  in  his 
letters  38  times.  [For  diminutives,  see  Earle,  "  Philology  of 
the  English  Tongue,"  §  2,7^  sqq.] 

(S6)  §  109.  Euphemisms  in  Latin  are  treated  by  O.Keller, 
"  Grammatische  Aufsatze  "  (zur  lat.  Sprachgeschichte,  ii), 
Leipzig,  1895,  PP-  154-188;  and  by  O.  Hey  in  Wolfflin's 
"  Archiv  fiir  lat.  Lexik.,"  ix,  223  sqq.,  xi,  515  sqq.:  cf  too 
W.  Bokemann,   "  Franzosischer   Euphemismus,"   Berliner 


NOTES 


249 


Dissert.,  1899.  Numerous  euphemisms  for  death  are  col- 
lected by  Georges,  "  De  Velleji  Paterculi  Elocutione,"  p.  5. 
Besides  this  particular  species  of  euphemism,  which  is 
the  product  of  terror,  we  may  notice  that  which  springs 
from  a  sense  of  shame,  on  which  see  O.  Hey,  /oc.  citat.^ 
pp.  528  sqq. 

iZj)  §  no.  Cf  E.  Wolfflin,  "Das  Wortspiel  im  Latein- 
ischen,  Sitzungsberichte  der  bayr.  Akad.  d.  Wissensch. 
Philol.  hist.  Klasse,"  1887,  pp.  187-209. 

(88)  §  112.  Nequiquam,  according  to  E.  Wolfflin 
"  Archiv  f.  Lexikogr.,"  ii,  7,  occurs  once  in  the  Bell.  Civ. 
in  the  connection  eius  auxiliunt  (i,  I,  4)  implorare,  which, 
according  to  Sallust,  Cat.  52,  29,  nequiquam  deos  implores 
(in  Cato's  oration),  seems  to  have  been  a  traditional  phrase 
of  ordinary  use  in  the  Council-chamber :  besides  this  pas- 
sage it  is  only  found  in  Bell.  Gall,  ii,  27,  5:  "Non  nequiquam 
tantae  virtutis  homines  ausos  esse  transire  latissimum 
flumen,"  which  must  be  regarded  as  a  fault  in  style,  for 
the  Romans  usually  said  instead  of  non  nequiquam,  non 
sine  causa. 

(89)  §  114.  See  further  on  this  subject  Frohlich,  "  Real- 
istisches  und  Stilistisches  zu  Caesar,"  Zurich,  1887.  At  the 
same  time  it  should  be  noticed  that  Caesar  often  uses  the 
same  expressions  in  immediate  succession;  e.g.,  the  word 
locus  occurs  five  times  in  the  Bellum  Gallicum,  i,  49, 
I  sqq.,  in  close  sequence.  More  will  also  be  found  in 
Polascheck  in  the  "  Serta  Harteliana,"  p.  224,  and  in  Frese's 
"  Beitrage  zur  Beurtheilung  der  Sprache  Casars,"  Programm 
d.  Luitpold-gymn.  Munich,  1900,  p.  21.  Besides,  we  cannot 
fail  to  notice  a  certain  preference  for  special  words  and 
phrases  exhibited  in  particular  books:  for  instance,  in 
Book  I  of  the  Bellum  Gallicum,  we  find  the  expression 
**  propterea  quod  "  repeated  no  less  than  14  times,  while, 
as  a  rule,  in  the  later  books  the  simple  word  quod  takes  its 
place:  in  the  seventh  Book  the  phrase  "e  regione"  is 
employed  6  times  in  the  signification  of  "opposite  to," 
a  meaning  in  which  it  is  used  only  once  in  the  Bell.  Civ. 
i,  25,  6,  and  then  not  in  the  same  sense:  the  word  tardare, 


250 


NOTES 


in  the  sense  of  "  to  retard,"  is  found  8  times  in  the  Bell. 
Civ.:  in  the  seventh  Book  of  the  Bell.  Gall.  7  times: 
elsewhere,  only  once  in  the  second,  and  once  in  the  sixth 
Book:  the  phrase  "  proinde  ac  si "  occurs  for  the  first  time 
in  the  third  Book  of  the  Bell.  Civ.,  and  in  that  Book 
four  times :  in  the  same  way  "  namque  etiam  "  is  found  in 
this  Book  3  times. 

(90)  §  114.  "  lactare  solitus  milites  suos  etiam  unguen- 
tatos  bene  pugnare  posse." 

(91)  §  115.  Cf  Kraut,  "Uber  das  vulgare  Element  in  der 
Sprache  des  Sallust,"  Blaubeuren,  1881. 

(92)  §  118.  Cf  B.  Linderbauer,  "  De  verborum  mutua- 
torum  et  peregrinorum  apud  Ciceronem  usu  et  compensa- 
tione,"  Programm  des  Gymnasiums  zu  Metten  bei  Straub- 
ing,  1 892- 1 893. 

(93)  §  119-  Cf  "  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Philologie,"  1892,  p.  392. 

(94)  §  119.  Cf.  Meusel  in  "  Jahresbericht  des  philolog- 
ischen  Vereins  zu  Berlin  "  (1894),  p.  240. 

(95)  §  120.  Cf  Meusel,  loc,  citat.,  p.  229;  Kubler, 
"  Ausgabedes  BelL  Gall.  Praef."  p.  cxxviii;  Frese,  loc.  dta^., 
p.  16.  We  may  gather  Caesar's  readiness  in  Greek  from 
the  assertion  of  Plutarch  (Pomp.  60,  2),  that  at  the  critical 
moment  when  he  was  crossing  the  Rubicon,  he  uttered 
Menander's  words  eaawo-t/:  aveppi(pdu  Hu^og:  and  Suetonius 
assures  us  (Div.  Jul.  82)  that  his  celebrated  reproach  to  his 
murderer,  Brutus,  was  also  in  Greek :  xa)  au  texvov. 

(96)  §  120.  Cf.  Koffmane,  "Lexicon  lateinischer  Wort- 
formen,"  Gottingen,  1874,  and  Meusel  in  the  "Jahres- 
bericht," XX,  p.  231,  mentioned  above. 

(97)  §  121.  The  contents  of  this  and  the  three  following 
sections  are  based  upon  the  "  Syntax "  by  Schmalz  in 
Iwan  Miiller's  Handbuch. 

(98)  §  122.  But  cf  Bell.  Gall,  vi,  37,  3:  "  cohors  in 
statione" ;  Bell.  Civ.  ii,  39,  2 :  "  castra  ad  Bagradam."  Cf. 
Chr.  Jarnicke,  "  Die  Verbindung  der  Substantiva  durch 
Prapositionen  bei  Cicero,"  Wien,  1886- 1887. 

(99)  §  124.  Cf  Schwenk,  "Uber  das  Gerundium  und 
Gerund iv  bei  Casar  und  Nepos,"  Frankenberg  in  Sachsen, 


NOTES 


251 


1882;  Gorlitz,  "  Das  Gerundium  und  Supinum  bei  Casar,'' 
Rogasen,  1887. 

(100)  §  124.  The  language  of  Cicero  and  Caesar  is 
treated  of  by  Jules  Lebreton,  "  Etudes  sur  la  langue  et  la 
grammaire  de  Ciceron,"  and  "  Caesariana  syntaxis  quatenus 
a  Ciceroniana  differat,"  both  Paris,  1901.  The  syntactical 
variations  of  Livy  from  the  usages  of  Cicero  and  Caesar 
are  collected  by  O.  Riemann,  "  Etude  sur  la  langue  et  la 
grammaire  de  Tite-Live,"  2nd  edit.,  Paris,  1885,  pp.  255-311. 
Other  treatises  dealing  with  the  grammatical  peculiarities  of 
Caesar  are  the  following:  Plochmann,  "  Die  Kasuslehre  bei 
Casar,"  Schweinfurt,  1891;  Fischer,  "  Die  Kasuslehre  bei 
Casar,"  Programme  der  lat.  Hauptschule  in  Halle,  1853- 
1854;  K.  Brinker,  "  Zur  Casarianischen  Kasussyntax,"  Jahr- 
biicher fiir  Philologie,  i89i,ii,49i.f^^.,  513.^^^.,  586^"^^. ;  the 
same  author,  "  Zur  Ciceronischen  Kasussyntax,"  loc.  citat., 
1896,  ii,  363  sqq.,  432  sqq.,  512  sqq.\  C.  Kossak,  '*  Observa- 
tiones  de  ablativi  qui  dicitur  absolutus  usu  apud  Caesarem  ' 
Gumbinnen,  1858.  The  sequence  of  tenses  in  Cicero  is 
dealt  with  by  H.  Lieven,  "  Die  consecutio  temporum  bei 
Cicero,"  Riga,  1872;  M.  Wetzel,  "Consecutio  temporum 
Ciceroniana,"  Dissert.,  1877;  for  Caesar's  use,  see  A.  Hug. 
Jahrbiicher  f.  Philol.,  i860,  877  sqq,,  1882,  281  sqq.\ 
A.  Procksh,  Bautzener  Programm,  1870,  and  Eisenberger 
Programm,  Leipzig,  1874;  E.  Hoffmann  in  "den  Studien 
auf  dem  Gebiete  der  lat.  Syntax,"  Wien,  1884.  Other 
papers  on  the  same  subject  are :  M.  Heynacher, "  Was  ergibt 
sich  aus  dem  Sprachgebrauch  im  BelL  Gall,  fiir  die  Behand- 
lung  der  lat.  Syntax  in  der  Schule?"  Berlin,  1886 ;  G.  Ihm, 
"  Quaestiones  syntacticae  de  elocutione  Tacitea  comparato 
Caesaris,  Sallustii,  Velleii  usu  loquendi,"  Giessener  Diss., 
1882;  Ad.  Lehmann,  "De  verborum  compositorum,  quae 
apud  Sallustium,  Caesarem,  Livium,  Taciturn  leguntur, 
cum  dativo  structura,"  Leobschiitz,  1884;  D.  Rhode,  "  Ad- 
jectivum  quo  ordine  apud  Caesarem  et  in  Ciceronis  ora- 
tionibus  coniunctum  sit  cum  substantivo,"  Hamburg,  1884; 
R.  Menge,  "  Uber  das  Relativum  in  der  Sprache  Casars, 
Halle,  1889;  W.  Kriebel,  "  Der  Periodenbau  bei  Cicero  und 


252 


NOTES 


Livius,"  Prenzlau,  1873;  Wania,  "  Das  Praesens  historicum 
in  Casars  BelL  Gall.,''  Wien,  1885;  Kertelheim,  "  tjber 
Grazismen  in  Ciceros  Reden,"  Bergedorf,  1894. 

(loi)  §  126.  Cf.  K.  Lorenz,  "  tjber  Chiasmus  und  Ana- 
phora im  Bellum  Gallicmn"  Kreuzburg  in  Oberschlesien, 
1875;  P.  Hell  wig,  "ijber  Pleonasmus  bei  Casar,"  Pro- 
gramm  des  Berliner  Sophiengymnasiums,  1889.  The  sub- 
stantive is  sometimes  repeated  after  the  determinative 
pronoun,  e.g,,  Bell.  Gall,  iii,  7  ("  bellum  :  eius  belli ");  v,  32 
("convallis:  eius  vallem  ")  vi,  11,  vii,  72.  The  substantive 
is,  moreover,  substituted  for  a  pronoun,  Bell.  Gall,  i,  48, 
where  castra  is  repeated  no  less  than  four  times;  i,  49  (five 
times  loais) ;  ii,  19, 33 ;  iv,  1 2,  25 ;  v,  9 ;  viii,  69.  Caesar  does 
not  hesitate  from  time  to  time  to  repeat  the  same  words  at 
short  intervals,  e,g.y  Bell.  Gall,  i,  3,  2  sqq.,  where  two  con- 
secutive sentences  begin  with  "ad  eas  res  conficiendas.' 
Even  rhyming  genitive  forms  in  -ortnn  seem  to  him 
admissible,  as,  e.g..  Bell.  Gall,  iii,  6,  2, "  potiundorum  castro- 
rum";  vii,  43,  3,  "  recuperandorum  suorum";  Bell.  Civ.  ii, 
42,  5, "  quorum  reficiendorum "  prove.  Cf.,  too, "  Jahrbucher 
fiir  Phil.,"  1885,  p.  242,  and  J.  Aumiiller,  "  Das  sogenannte 
Hendiadoin  im  Lateinischen,"  Blatter  fiir  bayrisches  Gym- 
nasialschulwesen,  1896,  753-759.  The  peculiarities  of  the 
rhetoric  of  Caesar  and  Cicero  are  noticed  by  E.  Norden, 
*'Die  antike  Kunstprosa,"  Leipzig,  1898,  i,  209-233. 

(102)  §  127.  Cf.  Bock,  "  Subiecta  rei  cum  actionis  verbis 
coniungendi  usus  quomodo  in  prisca  quae  vocatur  Latini- 
tate  sit  exortus  et  prolatus  usque  ad  tempora  Ciceroniana," 
Leipzig,  1889.  Instances  in  Caesar  are  Bell.  Civ.  ii,  i, "  maior 
vis  oppresserat";  Bell.  Gall,  ii,  i,  "  necessitas  temporis 
postulat."  For  the  figures  of  speech  in  Cicero  consult 
J.  Straub, "  De  tropis  et  figuris,  quae  inveniuntur  in  orationi- 
bus  Ciceronis,"  Aschaffenburg,  1883. 

(103)  §  127.  Cf.  Drager,  1878,  pp.  i  sqq.  In  the  literature 
previous  to  Cicero,  only  about  sixty  such  plurals  are  to  be 
found;  in  the  age  of  Cicero  about  a  hundred  new  plural 
formations  occur,  about  half  of  which  are  in  -io. 

(104)  §  128.   Cf.  Bernhardy,  "Grundriss  der  romischen 


NOTES 


253 


Literatur,"  p.  58,  Aum.  43;  J.  Schmidt,  "Das  rhythmische 
Element  in  Ciceros  Reden,"  Wiener  Studien,  xv,  p.  209; 
E.  Muller,"De  numero  Ciceroniano,"  Kieler  Dissert,  1886; 
J.  May, "  Der  rednerische  Rhythmus  mit  besonderer  Bezieh- 
ung  auf  Ciceros  Orator,"  Durlach  in  Baden,  1899. 

(105)  §  130.  A  long  period  is  to  be  found,  Bell.  Gall,  ii, 
25.  The  main  sentence  and  6  subordinate  sentences,  with 
14  infinitives  and  14  participles.  For  more  details  see 
W.  Busch, "  Casar  als  Schriftsteller  im  BelL  GalL"  Steglitzer 
Programm,  1901. 

(106)  p.  212.  Thus  in  this  word  aedes  th^  signification  is 
changed  and  enlarged  from  that  of  hearth  to  that  of 
chamber.  [Cf.  the  English  expression  "our  hearth  and 
home."] 

(107)  p.  213.  The  older  form  of  the  name  was,  according 
to  Priscian,  i,  554,  auger. 

(108)  p.  215.  Serv.  on  Aen.  i,  179:  "Quia  apud  maiores 
nostros  molarum  usus  non  erat,  frumenta  torrebant  et  ea  in 
pilas  missa  pinsebant  et  hoc  erat  genus  molendi,  unde  et 
pinsores  dicti  sunt,  qui  nunc  pistores  vocantur." 

(109)  p.  218.  Cf.  Trivialis,  worshipped  in  the  cross- 
ways,  more  commonly  Trivia,  the  goddess  Diana,  wor- 
shipped at  the  crossways. 

(no)  p.  220.  Cf.  Grimm,  "Gesch.d.deutsch.  Sprache,"98o 
sqq. ;  Schrader,  "  Sprachvergleichung  und  Urgeschichte," 
2  Aufl.,  pp.  369  sqq. ;  Brugmann,  "  Rheinisch.  Mus.,"  Neue 

Folge,  43,  399. 

(in)  p.  222.  Cf.  the  German  expression  acht  Tage,  for  a 
week:  the  two  Sundays  being  comprised  in  the  reckoning; 
and  the  French  qiiinze  jours  =  fourteen  days. 

(n2)  p.  223.  Cf.  O.  Schrader,  "Lexicon  der  indoger 
manischen  Altertumskunde,"  p.  286. 


INDEX 


ABEL,  C,  10,  24. 
Ablative,  Latin,  52. 
Accius,  78,  95. 
Accusative,  Greek,  141,  195. 
Adjectives,  ornamental,  113. 
Advocatus^  214. 
Aedilis^  212. 
Aelius  Stilo,  77. 
Agnomina,  Roman,  33. 
Alcaeus,  82. 
Alexandrian  Poets,  92. 
Allegory,  120. 
Alliteration,  61,  68. 
Analogical  Formations,  139. 
Analogy,  138,  149. 

Greek,  88,  94. 
Anaphora  (Repetitio),  122,  201. 
Antithesis,  122. 
Antonines,  102. 
Antonius,  M.,  Z^^  84. 
Antonomasia,  118,  119. 
Apostrophe,  125. 
Appius  Claudius,  83. 
Apuleius,  151,  173. 
Archaisms,  130. 

syntactical,  135. 
Archilochus,  124. 
Argiletuniy  162. 
Arval  Song,  68. 
Asyndeton,  70,  99,  200. 
Atellanae,  177. 
Atreus,  40. 


Atticists,  Roman,  86. 
AugureSy  213. 
Augustus,  93. 

poetry  in  time  of,  91. 

Bandusia,  8. 
Boissier,  206. 

Caecilius,  82. 

Caesar,  86,  172,  179,  181,  185, 
187. 

Caesura^  107. 

Cakndae,  222. 

Caligula,  41. 

Calvus,  C.  Licinius,  86. 

CandidaUiS^  214. 

Carmina  Saliorum,  68. 

Carneades,  83. 

Cassius,  Dio,  16. 

Cato,  the  Elder,  2,  27,  40,  66,  70, 
72,  81,  84,  87,  153,  195. 

Cato,  the  Younger,  91. 

Catullus,  46,  95,  140. 

Cenacula,  218. 

Censorinus,  95. 

Ceres,  36. 

Chiasmus,  122,  201. 

Cicero,  2,  3,  6,  7,  13,  16,  17,  20, 
26,  27,  41,  45,  72,  85,  86, 
97,  99,  100,  loi,  133,  137, 
145,  170,  179,  181,  187,  188, 
209,  212,  217. 


25s 


\ 


256 


INDEX 


INDEX 


257 


Claudius,  121. 

Climax  (Gradatio),  122. 

Clodius,  20. 

Coins,  Roman,  223. 

Commentaries   of    Caesar,    183, 

192,  197,  209,  210. 
Commodian,  153. 
Compitalia^  218. 
Consul  Appius,  67. 
Controversiae,  92. 
Crassus,  84. 
Crates,  82. 
Cum^  47. 

Dative,  Greek,  141,  197. 
De  Analogia,  86,  182. 
Declensions,  149. 
Deities,  names  of  Roman,  34. 
deiatores,  90. 

Delirare^  and  similar  words  bor- 
rowed from  agriculture,  19. 
Demosthenes,  42. 
De  Senectute,  207. 
Diminutives,  Latin,  59. 

use  of,  174. 
"  Distributio,"  116. 
Domitian,  100. 

Ennius,  40,  58,  66,  73,  78,  81, 
108,  115,  134,  195,202,  221. 
Enthymeme,  203. 
Epithets,  114. 

Epizeuxis  or  Epanalepsis,  122. 
Etymology,  Popular,  160. 
Eumenides,  176. 
Euripides,  124. 
Excellere,  16. 

Fabius,  17. 
Famulus^  214. 


Fanum,  218. 
Faunus,  36. 
Favorinus,  103. 
Fescennines,  177. 
Fetiales,  214. 

Figura  Etymologtca,  172,  199. 
Flaccus,  Valerius,  135. 
Flora,  36. 
Forstemann,  160. 
Freia,  34. 

Frequentative  Verbs,  165. 
Freytag,  106. 
Fronto,  7,  71,  102,  182. 
frumenium^  215. 
Funus,  221. 

Gaulish,  98. 

Gellius,  7,  81,  103,  182,  191. 
Goethe,  96,  114,  116,  187. 
Gracchus,  Caius,  206. 
Grimm,  Jacob,  156,  157. 

Brothers,  169. 
Groth,  Klaus,  144. 

Hadrian,  102,  103. 

Hastati^  216. 

Hellenic    Culture,    influence   of, 

73- 
Hendiadys,  122,  125,  202. 

Herder,  2. 

Hexameter,  107. 

introduction  of  Greek,  78. 

Hibernia,  161. 

Homer,  9,  10,  22,  26,  88. 

Honos,  Temple  of,  29. 

Horace,    18,   94,  95,   106,   108, 

120,    125,    128,    135,    138, 

i45»  179- 
HortuSy  217. 

Humanists,  204. 


Humboldt,  W.  von,  59,  61. 
Hyperbole,  122,  123. 
Hyperboreans,  102. 

Idus^  222. 
Immolate^  219. 
Indo-Germanic  poetry,  106. 
Inflexional  Forms  of  Cicero  and 

Caesar,  191. 
Inflexions,  Latin,  56. 

verbal,  148. 
Intensive  verbs,  165. 
Interjections,  Latin,  11. 
Intervallum,  16. 
Ionic  Greek,  107. 
Italicus,  121,  141. 

Jupiter,  34. 
Jurists,  146. 
Juvenal,  loi. 

Klopstock,  130. 

Lactantius,  178. 
Laocoon,  Lessing's,  116. 
Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  67. 
Lessing,  15,  21,  54,  96,  114,  116, 

142,  204. 
Licinius,  83,  91. 
Litotes,  122,  123. 
Livius  Andronicus,  69. 
Livy,  2,  7,  16,  99,  134,  i5i»  184, 

194,  i95>  i99»  217. 
Lucan,  8,  40,  41. 
Lucretilis,  8. 
Lucretius,  6,  46,  78,  88,  108,  124, 

134. 
Lupercus,  36. 

Maecenas,  92. 


Maeniana,  218. 
Maenius,  C,  218. 
Maia,  36. 
Manes y  219. 
Marcellus,  17. 
Marius,  216. 
Mars,  35. 
Martial,  151. 
Metaphors,  14,  119. 

from  Agriculture  and  War,  15. 
tropical  sense  of  words  in,  1 7. 
from  Sea  and  Chase,  79. 
of  Homer,  80. 

of  Aeschylus,  Euripides,  Pin- 
dar, Sophocles,  80. 
of  Cicero,  87. 
of  the  people,  170. 
Metonymy,  118. 
Mimes,  177. 
Mommsen,  45. 
Months,    Roman    denomination 

of,  30. 
Mucius  Scaevola,  2,  10. 

Naevius,  70,  124. 
Negations,  Latin,  164. 
Neologisms,  135. 
Nepos,  191,  212. 
Neptunus,  36. 
Nero,  100. 
Nerva,  10 1. 

Nobilior,  M.  Fulvius,  81. 
Nonae^  222. 
Novius,  17. 
Numen,  221. 
Nundtnum,  222. 

Odyssey,  Latin,  69. 

Ops,  35. 

Oratio  Obliqua,  Latin,  48. 


258 


INDEX 


Oratio  Rhodiensis,  71. 

Osci,  35. 

Ovid,  41,  93,  117,  120,  121,  125, 

137,  217, 
Oxymoron,  122. 

Pacuvius,  78. 

Pales,  36. 

Parallelism,  125. 

Parcae,  176. 

Parenthesis,  99. 

Patristic  Fathers,  146. 

Pecz,  80. 

Persona,  215. 

Petronius,  146,  151,  152. 

Philiscus,  82. 

Phrygio,  215. 

Pistor,  215. 

"  Plastic  "  in  language,  121. 

Plautus,  77,  124,  153,  165,  173, 

177,  195. 
Pleonasm,  122,  163. 

Rhetorical,  202. 
Pliny,  12,  73,  98,  loi. 
Polybius,  82. 
Polysyndeton,  122,  200. 
Pomona,  36. 
Pomponius,  13. 
Pontifices,  213. 
Praedium,  217. 
Praemium,  16. 
Praeneste,  73. 
Praetor,  212. 
Princeps,  16. 
PrincipeSy  216. 
Proper  Names,  Roman,  30. 
Propertius,  93,  95,  125,  128,  179. 
Prose,  Decadence  of,  95. 
Proverbs,  37. 
popular,  13. 


Puns,  41,  63,  125,  177. 

Quaestor,  212. 

Quintilian,  41,  42,  43,   66,   71, 

77,   78)  97)  loi,  102,   103, 
III,  145,  151,  182,  209. 

Quirites,  15,  214. 

Quonianiy  47. 

Raumer,  S.  von,  16. 
Reformation,  The,  100. 
Regium,  161. 
Rhetoric,    Schools    of,    opened, 

83. 

Roman     Literature,    contrasted 

with  Greek,  67. 
Roman  poets,  old,  75. 

St.  Augustine,  173. 

Saiii,  214. 

Sallust,  I,  85,  91,  97,  186,  191, 

195,  199- 
Satura,  177. 

Saturnian  measure,  68. 

Saturnus,  35. 

Schiller,  93,  114,  117,  204. 

Schroder,  169. 

Scipios,  Circle  of  the,  81. 

Scribae,  81. 

Semitic  character,  no. 

Seneca,  6,  41,  Z^,  98. 

Servius,  98,  132. 

Servius  Tullius,  213. 

Sidonius  Apollinaris,  168. 

Silver  Latinity,  96,  97,  104,  194. 

Similes,  79,  119. 

Sinister,  219. 

Slaves,   Roman  expressions  for 

II. 

Spoliare,  16. 


INDEX 


259 


Statius,  134. 
Stoicism,  10. 
Suasoriae,  92. 
Suetonius,  185,  208. 
Superlative,  Latin,  44. 
Supplicium,  221. 
Sus,  numerous  synonyms  of, 
Synecdoche,  118. 

Tacitus,  3,  22,  96,  loi,  151, 

192,  194. 
Tallyrand,  173. 
Tarentine  War,  73. 
Tellus,  36. 
Templum,  218. 
Terence,  82. 
Terminus,  36. 
Tertullian,  153,  154,  173. 
Theocritus,  124. 
Thucydides,  90. 
Tiberius,  Emperor,  94. 
Tibullus,  24,  95,  121. 
Timaeus,  189. 
Tiu,  34. 
Tmesis,  58,  76. 
Torquatus,  T.  Manhus,  45. 
Trajan,  loi. 
Triarii,  216. 


13- 


184, 


Tribuni,  213. 
Tullianum,  162. 
Tusculan  Orations,  189. 

Uhland,  130. 

Varro,  77,  218,  222. 

Vedas,  Indian,  69. 

Velleius  Paterculus,  85. 

Venerium,  219. 

Vergil,  3,  18,  22,  62,  93,  94,  96, 

116,    125,    128,    132,    133, 

134,  220. 
Verrine  Orations,  188. 
Virtus,  28. 

Virtus,  Temple  of,  29. 
Vitruvius,  146. 
Vowels,  Latin,  59. 
Vulgar  Latin,  144,  186. 
syntax  of,  152,  168. 

Wieland,  75,  114. 
Willman,  O.,  55. 
Winckelmann,  104. 

"Winged  Words,"  40. 
Wollner,  D.,  15. 
Wotan,  34. 


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